Norwegian drinking culture, the casual.

Back on my guide to buying drink in Norway post (link below) I said I would soon write a post about Norwegian drinking culture. Given that alcohol pricing is unsurprisingly my most viewed post I thought I should get to this sooner rather than later but quickly realised more than one post was needed. So here is the first on casual drinking.

http://gent-turning-troll.blogspot.no/2013/02/vinmonopolet-insanity-that-is-buying.html

So as we have established alcohol is expensive in Norway, no two ways about it. Whether many of the points I will make about the drinking culture are a direct link to this I cant be sure and I will leave that to a sociologist however there are other interesting factors as well

I should define what I mean by casual drinking. By this Im referring to meeting a friend for a beer or two after work at a local pub or maybe grabbing a beer at lunch. Or any other situation where you have between one and three drinks and then go your separate ways, or even do this on your own. I could also refer to this as pub culture drinking. Obviously age and situation plays a huge part in how often you do this but for me and my friends, all without kids in our early twenties, a couple of times a week wouldn't be unusual. In England most pubs open for lunch, some even for breakfast and many jobs would not care if occasionally some staff had a beer with lunch, its no big deal. In Norway however many aspects of this are rare and some non-existent. Firstly a beer in the middle of the day unless its a beautiful hot day and maybe you've been tempted to a beer garden seems to be very frowned upon. A beer at lunch while working is a comical no no and I've seen Norwegians look physically shocked by the concept.

Its very easy to say this is just a price thing but as I've pointed out Norwegians are paid well generally and two beers from the average pub is close to one hour at the minimum wage in both countries, so it isn't this. Another law is a factor though I think and that is the drink driving limit. In England its relatively lenient and generally it is accepted that one drink (pint of beer or a glass of wine for example) is completely fine to pass a drink driving test. I couldn't count the dozens of times I've watched friends actually have two, especially if its with a meal. In Norway though the drink driving limit is very low and therefore simply no one touches alcohol if they are going to be driving. There are many sides to this argument which I could probably write a separate post on but I'll keep it brief and say I understand both sides but really I'm all for the sensible low limit and I'm sure England will eventually bring there's in-line with Norway and many other European countries.

A fundamental problem in Norway now is trying to find a place to grab a beer during the day can be near impossible. Restaurants and such open for lunch and do serve alcohol but all the pubs and bars don't open until 3/4 in the afternoon. I recall finishing work in Norway early at around 1 o'clock one day and thinking I fancy grabbing a beer and catching the end of a tennis match I knew was on. I walked around the city for the better part of an hour trying to find anywhere that may have a tv and beer tap, but no luck. I was genuinely shocked to be met by locked door after locked door.

So this has all sounded very negative I know and its hard not to be due to the contrast of what I grew up with and the Norwegian norm but I should balance it out. I do have several Norwegian friends I have met for a casual drink or two after work occasionally, it definitely does happen. When eating as well its perfectly normal to be have one or two drinks when meeting for a meal but this is a different type of thing where the drink is just an accompaniment to the food, rather than meeting just for a drink and a chat.

In many ways what is missing is the whole pub culture. Often in England I would meet a friend for a beer and then say, while we're here, fancy grabbing some food. This is because "pub grub" as we call it is often very reasonably priced. There are not many of these kinds of places in Norway though. The kind of place I'm talking about is where you would go for a couple of beers, or for dinner. Both are completely normal. I can think of a couple in Bergen but this is nothing compared to the dozens in every English town and city.

While it definitely isn't as strong as I'm about to put it I would say things are generally trend towards the belief that casually enjoying a drink or two on a regular basis is a very bad thing to do and I'm trying to avoid saying people view it as alcoholic behaviour but I have sometimes got that impression. It would probably be fairer to say a lot of the time its just seen as pointless both on an expense level and for the drunkenness factor to just have a beer or two. The Norwegian attitude can be why have one or two several times a week, its expensive and you never really get drunk. Its better to save up and get battered at the weekend. Something which Norwegians do love to do and will be the subject of my next drinking culture post.