Drinking culture

I have written before about the drinking culture in the UK (or is it just London?), but it never ceases to amaze me. Thursday night was our work Christmas party (apparently Thursday was THE night for work functions across the city, even though it means going to work the next day) and as expected, most people had a merry time and overindulged (myself included). Fair enough. Friday was our team's work Christmas lunch. Now, had I been back in Australia I might have expected everyone to be taking it easy and trying to get over their hangovers with plenty of water and soft drinks ... far from it (although chowing down on delicious curries certainly helped), we were straight back on it - with more than enough BYO beer and wine to keep everyone's glasses full for the entire afternoon. And no one batted an eyelid because it's just the way things are done here. And if that wasn't enough, we capped the afternoon off at the pub! Makes Aussies look soft!