Flying from Cleveland to Shanghai, I had three connecting flights that amounted to 40 hours of total travel time. By my second flight, I was exhausted but could not fall asleep despite various attempts. I thought I’d try drinking a little bit to let the alcohol do its work and take me into dreamland. I asked for sparkling wine, and they gave me a tiny plastic cup meant to mimic a wine glass. I drank the wine as I finished a movie, and when I went into the bathroom, I realized my face was completely red, and my eyes became watery. I thought it was funny and took a few selfies of my Asian glow, but I suddenly started feeling sick. Extremely sick, like something inside me turned upside down, and I wanted to puke but couldn’t. Then I remember growling because of the discomfort, and the next thing I knew, I had to open the door as soon as possible because I was losing consciousness. I walked to the flight attendant and asked to lie down before I lost strength and fell to the ground. Technically I did not faint — I was vaguely aware of everything but did not have the capacity in my body to support myself mentally or physically. Then the two attendants put me flat on the ground and raised both legs. After a few minutes, I felt much better and consumed juice and snacks as I rested on the cabin floor. Gosh, I do not think I will touch any type of alcohol in a while. Alcohol is just…not for me.
Growing up in China, there was no drinking age. Some parents would even ask their kids to drink at family dinner tables, and my family has always been pretty loose with my alcohol freedom. I remember taking beer to my after-school maths class in middle school and drinking it in front of the instructor. I did it to look cool but also because it was legal and accessible. I don’t understand how my tolerance went from day drinking in middle school to passing out because of one glass of wine or eggnog in college. Anyways, alcohol was not that much of a big deal to me, compared to my American peers, because it was not ‘unattainable.’ We always crave what we don’t have, and I could obtain alcohol too easily. In Korea, the drinking age is 18, and it is often common to ID someone. However, as a solo 16-year-old traveler in Seoul, I never got IDed when I drank in restaurants or bought Soju in convenience stores. Thinking back, I think it’s the foreigner privilege and the fact that 30-year-old Korean women can look as young as high school students.
When I went to high school in Costa Rica, drinking was a massive part of our social life. It was hard to mingle with everyone if you didn’t drink. So most of the time, I drank with everyone. I never drank too much, but now we all know a little can be too much for me. I didn’t enjoy myself with alcohol during that period because I felt like I just had to fit in. I remember one time we were playing a drinking game, and at that time, I shaved my head and was bald. I witnessed how my face, neck, chest, and even scalp got red.
Now that I am 22 years old and turning 23, I am legally allowed to consume the mighty liquid anywhere in the world. I barely drink but still got a state ID to join my friends in bars and nightclubs without bringing my passport. I still find it hard to directly tell dates or new friends that I don’t drink by choice, but I guess if I tell them the last time I drank, I collapsed on a plane, that’ll do the work.
About the author:
Selene is 22 years old, girl, Chinese, Japanese, alcohol-very-intolerent, ADHD…
She is a cultural sandwich with a heart as soft as firm tofu, and the three words she wants others to describe her with in life are: Genuine, Colorful, and Loving & Lovely (sorry but can’t find a word that combines both so here they serve as one word!).
