There are a few oriental/asian threads if you search the archives. Another difference is that Oriental was a colonial term, and therefore had an inherently negative bias.
Asian, as meant by people in the United States, does not have that historical connotation.
Iteki most Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Thai, Burmese, Tibetans, Mongolians, etc don’t react in the way you’ve described. Or maybe I just hang with the drinkers There are enough who do that it doesn’t raise eyebrows. You can certainly go out with Asians that can probably drink you under the table, or at least match you late into the night.
That certainly must skew the results of any casual observation. I’ve seen only a few of the Asians I know turn red after consuming alcohol, but I know an awful lot who don’t drink at all. Some might simply not like it, but for others, teetotaling must be to avoid this syndrome.
I woke up rather seedy this morning after helping my Vietnamese brother-in-law and his friend demolish half an 1125ml bottle of Bundaberg Overproof Rum (57.7% alcohol by volume) and a six pack of Heineken. They were, shall we say, mellow, but hadn’t turned red, and weren’t what I would call drunk.
A LARGE percentage of Koreans turn beet-red when drinking… and I know several who turn red/get drunk off a very small amount of alcohol! One of my best friends had a girlfriend who would take a sip of beer and almost immediately turn bright red. No joke. I never saw her drunk, though, as she was embarassed by this, and really limited her drinking.
I’ve found that in GQ, after you say “thanks for the answer” the thread tends to dry up rather quickly as everyone assumes that the question is over and goes about their merry ways.
I’ll say thanks anyway but this has been interesting and informative and anyone that wishes to continue may.
I really don’t have that many asian friends (three actually), but still the issue of alcohol has never once been brought up until two nights ago. It’s interesting to see that it’s true. I didn’t notice any red splotches on her but it seems that the two aren’t really related anyway.
As for the “Oriental” debate, my Chinese friend told me it and I noticed a very very subtle reference to it in King of the Hill which would have gone over my head had she not informed me of this insult. I’ve decided to just err on the side of caution and not call her that.
In my studies and continuing education as a chemical dependency specialist, I had heard that most Asian people had an intolerance for alcohol. So I was amazed that my ex-lover, who is Okinawan, could drink whiskey like there was no tomorrow. Once I researched further , I discovered that roughly 1/3 of Asians are lacking alcohol dehydrogenase. When this group drinks alcohol, they initially flush with small amounts of alcohol, but they can become violently ill as well, blacking out on small amounts of alcohol, sometimes becoming viciously combative. Here in the States, this condition is known as “pathological intoxication” and it isn’t just limited to the Asian population (but there appears to be a larger percentage of alcohol intolerant folks among the Asian groups). The remaining 2/3 can, and frequently do, drink alcohol. Desite the fact that my ex said Japanese can’t become alcoholic, some do, just like in any other ethnic group.
Nope, I’m Japanese and I turn red.
And the other friend I mentioned who gets “the Continents” is Chinese.
LadyLion any chemical reason for this? I do notice I tend to become very punchy and argumentative when I’ve drank a fair amount. Could it be that I can blame this on a chemical reaction and not my own bad attitude?
There are enough who do that it doesn’t raise eyebrows. You can certainly go out with Asians that can probably drink you under the table, or at least match you late into the night.