How to survive year-end binge drinking

Office workers raise their glasses at their year-end party in a pub in Seoul in this file photo. During the year-end festive season, people tend to drink more than usual. / Korea Times

Corporations promote campaign to practice temperance

By Baek Byung-yeul, Nam Hyun-woo, Park Ji-won

The end of the year, a time when people gather together and drink, is here.

Spending time with one's family, friends or acquaintances at a year-end party is meaningful in terms of catching up with friends you have not seen for a long time.

But, not everyone looks forward to work events because attendance is often compulsory and, more often than not, the evening ends in excessive drinking.

The following are survival tips for young workers who struggle to endure company year-end drinking parties.

Conversation killers

Relationship counselors say, "Avoid talking about politics when trying to be friendly with someone," as it may create awkwardness or start a quarrel. So talking about politics is among a slew of topics to avoid.

Since get-togethers are often accompanied by binge drinking that causes misunderstanding and consequent resentment, there are more chances of people upsetting one another or appearing to hold extreme political views.

Kim, 29, a new employee who began working at a trading company earlier this year, said he experienced an awkward situation after he mentioned a political issue at a year-end get-together last week.

"I made a joke about the National Intelligence Service's alleged interference in last year's presidential election," he said. "I thought everyone would find it funny, but my bosses were not amused."

After he made the comment, the director of his team asked everyone else their opinions on the issue, and because two seniors, second and third in the team's hierarchy had opposite opinions, a quarrel broke out between them.

"The worst moment was when director Choi said, ‘I personally support liberal parties,' and a drunken Kim [no relation], the second highest team member, then denounced Choi as a ‘Commie,'" said the 29-year-old.

He said that since Choi did not drink so often and is a man of good character with an "easy-going" attitude, he didn't fight back against Kim. But after the exchange, the entire mood of the get-together went cold and there was no karaoke, the typical second stage of entertainment during such get-togethers.

This led Kim to conclude that moving the conversation toward political issues can be a strategy to bring an awkward evening to an early end. But he said there is no guarantee that it will achieve the desired result.

"If you desperately want to finish a get-together early, you might try this one. But I cannot be sure this will work every time because sometimes it might evolve into a long, boring discussion," he said.

Surviving the year-end party

If it is mandatory to attend a drinking party, it is better to go armed with survival techniques to endure the event.

"Your boss might say it is not part of work, but don't be fooled by this. Needless to say, it is a part of work culture. Behave as if you are at the office," Park Woo-jin, 29, an office worker at a securities firm, said.

"First of all it is important to attend every drinking gathering, and don't concoct a story to escape. That's the basic rule for not falling out of favor with your boss," he said.

"The fundamental rule to follow while at a drinking party with your boss and seniors is to remember that it will not be a good time out. What you have to do is keep a low profile and try not to be conspicuous to anyone," Park added.

Another suggestion from Park is to choose your seat carefully at the drinking table.
"Try to avoid sitting next to your boss as much as possible. The closer you are to your boss, the more you will have to talk with him or her," he said.

Park also advised that avoid being honest to superiors.

"You don't need to be frank with everyone either. As this is part of your work, your complaints will be remembered by your boss."

Kim, a 30-year-old employee, says he often pretends to be drunk whenever he attends drinking parties, emphasizing that it is necessary not to make a single mistake while feigning a state of blissful oblivion.

"I just pretend that I am zonked out. Then, nobody offers me anything, even a cup of soju," Kim said.

"I sometimes get depressed by the fact that I am doing these dumb things just to escape the conditions of a company dinner. But it's quite useful because I can go home earlier than everyone else."

Samsung's 119 campaign

Korea's corporations have long been working to change their binge drinking culture at year-end parties with campaigns in favor of drinking less or substituting the wasteful excess with charity events.

A number of affiliates in the Samsung Group are promoting a campaign, called the "119 campaign," aimed at "eradicating chronic bad practices at get-togethers."

The campaign promotes that "Get-togethers should finish before 9 p.m., after the first round and only one kind of alcohol should be consumed."

"The motive was very good," said Kim, a 28-year-old former employee of the company. "But what they failed to mention is the ‘amount' of drinking," she said.

At company get-togethers, employees try to abide by such campaigns, she said. But some of them start get-togethers as soon as their work finishes and drink one kind of alcohol without stopping until 9 p.m.

"Completely in the boundary," she said. "But such intensive drinking can be even more tiring than lengthy get-togethers."

"I think some drinkers who force others to drink have to change their idea that everyone loves to drink as much as they do. That would be more effective than just prohibiting destructive behavior with a campaign."