Cash bar? Closed.

I am in Melbourne right now to attend my first conference in Australia ever. Compared to the ones I went to in the USA it is quite different at least in this one aspect: people are much more open to alcohol assumption.

In the US alcohol is normally available at "cash bar", which means you have to pay for your own because it is not included in the standard package. Alternatively more "generous" organizers might give every participant a couple of tickets for wine or bear, but beyond that you have to reach out to your wallet.

I am not sure whether there is some sort of regulation saying "No more than two drinks--I want you to stay sober". But it is true that in academic institutes, at least in my university, you had to get a special license to serve alcohol.

With this experience I was surprised to hear "Time to hit the bar" at 5:30 pm yesterday, and today, they started to serve alcohol around the same time for "poster exhibition". People walked around checking out posters and talking to the presenters with beer in hand--a scene I have never seen in the States. I actually like it, although I don't drink myself. There is no upper limit by the way; one can drink as much as they want...

I doubt this is the case only for this conference. On my flight from Canberra to here the other day, I thought a flight attendant was joking when he asked, "White or Red?" It turned out wine and beer were both offered with a snack sandwich, and as long as you're sober enough to ask, there will be the 2nd, 3rd serving to ask. Again that is never the case for US Airlines, you have to pay extra to get alcohol.

It would be interesting to compare the average alcohol consumption of the two countries. One might think the per capita consumption in Australia is higher, but who knows? Maybe the prohibitive part makes it more attractive?