I don't drink alcohol very often and never excessively. I almost never drink at restaurants because it's really expensive (and I'm eating, which negates the alcohol). So I'm not a fan of group dinners that include alcohol and splitting the tab evenly. Though I will usually eat my share, I never get my money's worth of alcohol.
Last night we had a teachers' party. I wasn't very hungry and not in the mood for alcohol, so I only had a small bowl of ramon (my first since Tokyo, and it was terrible). My Japanese isn't good enough to participate in casual conversation unless it's about fishing, so I was lucky to have a three-year-old girl in attendance whom I entertained for hours. At the end the bill was split to the tune of $30/person, which was $24 more than what my meal cost. I don't mind paying extra, but that's a lot.
Is it only non-drinkers who notice when they have to subsidize drinkers?
Monday, June 2, 2008
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Yes, in my experience, but I'm a prude with money. I remember seeing a sign in a bar in the States once: "If you drink to forget, pay in advance."
Happens almost every time I go out with my teachers (though it can be a lot worse with some groups of JETs)... One trick is to slip out before the drinking really gets going, leaving your share thus far with the person in charge, but I'm not sure how your parties run their course.
ouch. that sucks, but i think that's pretty much the way it goes there.
fortunately the parties are far and few between because most of the teachers go to naha every weekend. now that i am living in teachers' housing i'll probably be invited to more, but the money i am saving by living there will easily balance out the cost of my fellow teachers' alcohol! but, yeah kerri, i bet the mainland teachers have it way worse than me. and slipping out is a good idea, especially since i always have the 'i'm waking up at 4am to go fishing/running' excuse.
I have that problem often. Both because of not drinking and because of my small appetite. Sometimes people tell me I can pay less, but usually we end up splitting the bill equally. It doesn't just happen with Japanese coworkers either. It's just as much a problem when cooking/sharing food with non-Japanese friends. It's annoying and expensive, but what can I do? People wouldn't appreciate if I said something every time we ate together. At least you have the large appetite to make up for your light drinking.
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