The Night Life

New Zealand has a drinking age of 18, so they have a very big night life, and very different from the States. I am 20, so I'm not legal in the States, and I'm also not a big partier so these observations are based on my very limited observations!

In the States people party mostly on the weekends, like Thursday-Saturday were the big party nights, and people don't start drinking til like 8pm, come home around 2am. Also, since we were all underage, parties were held at houses and apartments. Oh, and no drinking on campus. Here in New Zealand our "drinking hours" on campus are from 5:30pm to 9pm, so people start drinking at 5:30pm in their halls, then take it to the bars in and around town. We have two major bars here, one is within walking distance, and it's called the Famous Grouse, and it's the kind of bar that doesn't have dancing. The other one is called the Springer, and it's insane. That's where you go to dance and be crazy, we swung by at 8:30pm and there was a line out the door!! So I've been to the Grouse twice, the first was really quiet, the second was much bigger. They stop serving shots once it gets pretty rowdy (that was only like 9:30pm), and they don't know the same drink names as we have in America. Also, people here party on Wednesdays. Yeah, I know, it makes absolutely no sense.

I've only been to two "parties" here, parties meaning lots of drunk people ;) Not really my scene, but it's been fun ordering different drinks and finding out what I like! I always thought I hated alcohol, but that's because I've only ever tried the bad stuff hahaha. My favorite thing here has been cider, I've tried three different kinds and they've all been very good. I still don't like wine (sorry mom and dad) but I'm working on it, since I have to make my own wine in one of my classes!! Oh and mom and dad, if you're reading this, no I have never been drunk. I like to think I know my limits pretty well!!

Overall I prefer the New Zealand night life, but once I turn 21, I think I'll like the U.S. night life better. Not a big fan of the whole Wednesday night thing, but I MUCH prefer bars to houses!