Party in public

Question: It´s Friday night, you and your buddies got a sweet set of wheels, a box full of beer and a thirst for a party. But you´re not looking for any ol´party, you have a hankering for some partying in public. So, where do you go?

Well, depending on where you live, your answer will probably vary. Back in the homeland, drinking in public is very tiss tiss so those hungry for public drunkeness (usually only rednecks or the underaged) must resort to hiding in bushes only to emerge stumbling with an empty 2 litre bottle of berry flavoured cooler and several hickeys from unknown donors several hours later. None too civilized for such a "civlized" country.

In Japan your public display of inebriation usually depends on your social status. If you are a salary man then you get drunk after work with your buddies and a sleazy hostess bar and pass out, red faced, on the closest slab of sidewalk or subway station. If you are young you "sneak" over to the closest vending machine and buy some (they really try to stop that underage drinking by creating as many obstacles as possible for the underaged....like fully accesible, unmonitored beer vending machines in public spaces), you then hop on the back of your bosuzoku boyfriend´s suped up scooter and drive away into the night, his bleached hair messing up your 6 inches of makeup as it flaps in the wind. Where they end up drinking in the end is beyond me because in my 3 years in Japan I never once saw underaged kids drinking in public. They must hide in the mountains or something. In Japan if you are a foreign English teacher, you get drunk at an all you can drink establishment, then make a huge scene in the street as you and 30 of your closest drunken gaijin buddies stumble down to the Karaoke joint where you proceed to wreak havoc and fall off the balcony. And finally, if you are a Japanese woman, you don´t get drunk in public because you are too busy looking after the children, making your husband´s dinner and next day´s lunch to have time for yourself. Oh and if it´s May, everyone gets druk

And now on to Brasil. If you are Brasilian, you and your buddies head to the location most favored by public partiers in this fine land...the gas station. Yes, that´s right ladies and gentlemen, it´s the place where weekend dreams come true. Head to the gas station, pop down that tailgate, pump the stereo and drink the night away brasilian style. Things are even better if there is a world cup game on. Then, by presidential decree everyone can stop working and park their butts down and watch the game together at the gas station, even the local police stop by for a beer and a looky. And if you run outta beer, no worries, just pop into the store attached to the station and grab some (but only at halftime because the cashier won´t leave the TV set until play stops).

Who needs a bar when you´ve got the gas station.

So faithfull readers, now is your turn. How do residents of your fine country get drunk in public. Let´s internationalizing via comments!

Cheers
J