Disclaimer: This post isn't about stereotypes. It's about friends; my friends. It's about how at the end of the day, it doesn't matter where you're from, or how you choose or pour your drinks, or how you choose or do anything else. It's about how you end the night.
My Ukranian friend always fills red wine glasses to the brim, a half-bottle in one sitting guaranteed.
My Filipina friend doesn't pour booze because she gets Asian Flush.
My South African friend hands me a glass of white or rose with two ice cubes.
My Bosnian friend refuses to drink wine with me if I don't first look her in the eye and toast out loud.
My American friend pours me a big glass of homemade iced tea with lemon wedges.
My Canadian friend pours me a glass of white from a Berri Estates box.
My British friend offers me a gin & tonic in a tumbler.
My Irish friend has a newfound love of watermelon juice.
My Qatari friend offers me Kahwa (Qatari coffee) in a cup.
My health-conscious Australian friend thinks a drink without kale juice isn't actually worth having.
My Indian friend suggests a glass of whiskey to start the night off right.
My husband usually cracks open a bottle of Corona.
My daughter opts for chocolate milk in a mug.
Me? I drink copious amounts of coffee most days and pour myself half a glass of Sauvignon Blanc to kick off the weekend off when I get home on a Thursday.
Unless I'm with a friend. Then I'm having whatever they're having.
At the end of the day, no matter which friend(s) I'm with, we're having a laugh.
Expats adapt. Whether it's food, or dress, or lingo, or jokes, or drinks. We take whatever's offered and we roll with it. We usually end up laughing.
Laughter.
That's how we fill our expat glass.