Once college begins, staying home on a weekday no longer became an excuse to ditch a night out. But if you don't feel like dressing up, paying an entrance fee, and spending on VAT. The best place to go to is actually home or at a friend's house, dorm or condo you've come to call home.
A weekday inuman usually has a valid reason behind it, a despidida, birthday, homecoming, or a team's loss or victory. Every now and then, drinking sessions are born form "wala lang," which is is a less nostalgic way of saying, "Na-miss kita ah, painom ka naman!"
Other friends could start arriving a few minutes or hours after. Some notably look harassed from loads of schoolwork. At the beginning of the night, girls usually gravitate towards one another while the guys group themselves in another corner. As stereotypical as it may sound, the ladies squel about a cute guy, emphatize over someone's recent break-up, and gossip on local and international show business. On the other side of the room, guys could discuss about bands, cars, basketball, and well, sex and girls.
One table is devoted entirely to alcohol and pulutan. Food is whatever the student can afford: isaw, sisiw, Boy Bawang, Clover Chips, Chippy, chicharon, and peanuts. When it comes to drinks, Coke or powder juice seems to be universal solvent. It's mixed with Emperador Brandy, Tanduay Rum, or Gran Matador. When someone's feeling generous, three great men named Johnny Walker, Jose Cuervo, and Jack Daniels join the party. Three to five glasses of any mixture should give a buzz. The drinks that sneak up from behind are vodka with Red Bull and any type of punch such as gin pomelo and its relatives. You won't be able to keep track of how much you've had because the alcohol is incognito. Vodka Red Bull is a good option if one plans to go to school right after a night out because of its astronomical caffeine content (80 mg., more than twice the amount in Coke). Red Horse Beer with Extra Joss could also give a similar kick. Another sneaky drink is red wine, whose presence is only felt when parents want to get rid of the cheap kinds from their wine racks. Damn grapes that hide the 12-14% alcohol content.
Beer is arguably the most popular pick among college students. Unless you're drinking in Makati or The Fort, beer is the cheapest yet highly effective option. The twenty to fifty peso price range fits right into a student's budget. San Mig Light (5% alcoholic content), San Mig Strong Ice (6.3%), and Red Horse (7%) are the most common contents of a cooler or refrigirator. The ladies usually consume about one to three bottles while the guys go from three to five.
Deeper into the night (when more alcohol is consumed), everyone manages to squeeze themselves around one table. If there aren't enough chairs, the guys stand up and let the girls take their seats (yes, chivarly still does exist). The guys tend to overuse "dude" while the girls inject "like" and "parang" practically before and after every phrase. They tend to use "OMG!" often as well, which is probably the most flexible expression of all time.
Conversation revolve around the upcoming changes in our respective schools and current events (like American Idol and the latest T.V. show or blockbuster, hit song or music video). Subject matters evevtually progress into extremes. On one end of the spectrum, we ask questions like, "What do we do after college?" Sentences end up starting with "Do you remember when..." and "Back in highschool...". On the other end, conversations go as shallow as, "Do you realize that there's no space between Hotshots? Meaning it can be Hots Hots or Hot Shots." a drunken friend replies, "So dude... tinanggal 'yung 's'?" An even drunker friend remarks, "Dude eh di... Hot shot na lang?" Usapang lasing at its finest. Another guaranteed drunk test is a linguistic phenomenon: fluent English speakers start babbling in Filipino and fluent Filipino speakers start uttering English sentences peppered with highflautin words.
Though as a college students may seem older and (somewhat) wiser, we still can't say hardly anyone gets smashed on a weekday, commits a verbal diarrhea, or messy, emo crying. There could be a self-imposed Cinderella curfew, but the goodbyes can go beyond midnight. As the every acquaintance in the room. Towards the succesful exit at the literally wee hours of the morning, close friends advise each other to text one another oce they reach their houses for reassurance. The "OMG! what did we do last night?" morning-after scenario of a weekday goes along the lines of, "OMG!, I'm late! I'm late! I'm late!" then on to the mad scramble for clothes, a toothbrush, baon and school bag.
With the help of the coffee, lots of water, and occassional breakfast, college students do make it to class the next day. Maybe not to the 7 a.m. class, maybe late for the 10 a.m. class, but are able to say "Present!" when our name is called. We may major Business or Engineering, and seem groggy and half-asleep, but possibly incoherent students have minored and mastered the way to wing any post-drinking situation by being able to look alive at the beginning of class and then successfully be able to disguise powernaps between biology and organic chemistry.
Overdrinking is never really a bright idea though. Regardless of age and educational attainment, you don't want to be the person known as "the one who puked all over himself and his friend's shoes" or "the girl who passed out on the bathroom floor from barfing and crying over her ex."
Learn as early as now that drinking over your hurts and insecurities may temporarily help but would never ever permanently heal your wounded heart and ego. Add the fact that you get a horrible hangover the next day (the kind wherein you're almost immobile or hugging the toilet from vomiting bile). Don't add enough or more alcohol in your system to humiliate yourself publicly, just add enough to free yourself from inhibitions to loosen up, laugh more, cry less, and let your hair down.. :)
No comments:
Post a Comment