I have dreamed of walking through those glass doors since I was a freshman at BU — to see the superstore in all its glory from the inside and gaze across the shelves and shelves of glass bottles advertised in the sweeping windows, knowing it could all be mine. For years, I was allowed no more than curious glances, admiring that mecca at the corner of Harvard and Brighton Avenues from the outside as the building’s iridescent marquee loomed over me, gazing at the big red block letters reading “BLANCHARDS” — until now.
At last, I am legal. I turned 21 Tuesday, over 9,000 miles away from the promised land I had for years planned to pilgrimage to on this day. But, as many of my peers are experiencing and countless other upperclassman studying abroad have likely encountered, what I thought would be the most celebrated birthday of my lifetime has been made moot by New Zealand’s drinking age of 18.
I am not complaining. I’ll take an adventure abroad over one crazy night of bar hopping in the States any day, but I can’t help but feel like I’m somehow mourning a milestone. After all, the culture surrounding alcohol in New Zealand is totally different from in the United States.
In New Zealand, you can buy booze starting at 18, although there is technically no minimum age for consuming alcohol. The reasoning behind the policy is that parents should ultimately decide when their children are old enough to enjoy a drink. So, as in many European countries, teenagers tend to begin by having a glass of wine or beer with dinner instead of hoarding Svedka until their parents leave town for the weekend.
I’ve noticed this difference in mentality before while traveling in Europe. My first experience being intoxicated was actually in Germany, where the drinking age is 16, while traveling with a group of classmates. Because so many youths begin drinking lightly at home with parents around, there’s much less of an incentive to sneak around. Binge drinking occurs less often, because consumption of alcohol is somewhat normalized.
Similarly, the atmosphere surrounding drinking, even among young people, is casual in New Zealand. Workplace drinking is commonplace on Fridays at 5 p.m. On-campus cafes offer beer, wine and mixed drinks.
But while drinking is more customary in New Zealand, rates of alcohol consumption, as well as binge drinking, have decreased in the country in recent years. According to a survey from the New Zealand Ministry of Health, rates of “hazardous drinking” for people between the ages of 18 and 24 has decreased by 13 percent over the past six years, from 49 percent to 36 percent. In comparison, 40 percent of American college students have engaged in binge drinking in the past month, according to data from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
This makes for an interesting party culture among students in Auckland. Because they have access to the city’s many bars beginning at 18, partying at the University of Auckland isn’t quite like Allston’s Gardner and Pratt streets on the weekends. Additionally, most U of A students do not live in on-campus housing but in houses or apartments — flats, as they are called here — in surrounding suburbs. They are simply too spread out for the standard house and apartment parties of Allston and Brighton.
In addition, liquor is incredibly expensive in New Zealand because almost all of it must be imported. Local craft beers or the classic kiwi brew Speight’s are cheaper options.
New Zealand also has an incredible wine culture. While many vineyards in the Auckland area specialize in red wines such as pinot noir, vineyards in the southern region of the North Island like Hawke’s Bay and the northern region of the South Island like Marlborough produce white wines. When I arrived here, I was pleased to learn that sauvignon blanc is one of the country’s biggest exports. Overall, taste is priority over cost. Two-buck chuck does not exist here, although delicious local wines can generally be purchased for around ten dollars a bottle.
So New Zealand’s drinking culture doesn’t exactly make for the 21st birthday that I’ve been expecting, but I’m happy to spend it in the most beautiful country in the world. And I certainly can’t wait to hit those Beantown bars when I return — although I will miss New Zealand’s amazing wine.
