Rant over

Hope your all well

xx

In the north many people seem to drink in order to be excused for totally changing behaviour. “But I was drunk” is a more or less accepted excuse for having acted in a way that you would not even dream of when being sober. When they drink, my Spanish friends change their behaviour to a much less extent than my northern friends. My view of the differences could of course depend on the fact that I have not lived in the north for more than a decade and nowadays I drink wine with Spanish mothers and fathers of young kids and they are more or less constantly sleep deprived. They simply don´t have the energy to get really drunk and act out. Having said that, when I am out late at night in Stockholm I always get surprised about how many really drunk forty-somethings are out on the streets. So drinking probably continues to serve different purposes in the north, even after you´ve grown up and became middle aged.

As Miles pointed out about Southern Europe, there is usually no violence. Otherwise we will hear or read more about it for sure. Sometimes these teenagers would be in the middle of the (narrow) street when we try to pass with a car, I always feel a bit intimidated when it happens because of all the places I have lived in in the past (including USA). But usually they move to the side and let you go through without an incident.

I like to see/hear about the different ways in which countries handle alcohol, it’s very interesting. My big question would be, do they have an increased number of reports regarding public intoxication and disturbing of the peace?