An article here from Euromonitor proclaims South Koreans the world’s heaviest drinkers, nearly doubling the amount of hard liquor Russians consume weekly.  Having lived here, I totally believe it.  Drinking,especially after work drinks with the boss and colleagues, is super-common here, and there is almost no stigma attached to public drunken behavior.  Last week, we rode the bus home next to two twenty-something women who were already pretty pickled–at nine o’clock at night. I don’t know how they had even been off  work long enough to get drunk, but they had managed somehow.  

For those of you who are especially interested in Korea’s unique brand of alcoholism, check out Black Out Korea, a website that allows visitors to submit their own photos of folks in Korea who have passed out from sheer drunkenness.  It’s both fascinating and disturbing.