A Lesson In Swedish (or Traveling Around The World Drinking Beer)

Swedish language is quite closely related to English. We have a lot of common words that are spelled exactly the same. Even more words are extremely similar either in spelling or meaning.

For example, the Swedish word for drunk is "full". This word has the same meaning as in English. The underlying content of the expression "Jag är full" (I'm drunk) is of course: I'm full of alcohol.

I've given this expression a lot of thought lately. You can be full of so many things: full of hope, full of joy, full of fear, full of hate, full of God, full of inspiration. People tat say they're full of God rarely drink alcohol to the extent of getting drunk. The same goes for inspiration: you rarely meet someone full of inspiration being drunk at the same time.

I've had my share of alcohol abuse. My work is about traveling around the world, and one of the small pleasures at the end of every other workday is to enjoy a modest amount of quality beer, either going out or relaxing on the hotel room's balcony. There's nothing wrong with that, and it's not much different from having coffee in the morning the same way.

I'll always consume alcohol, just like I'll always drink coffee in the mornings. I like them both too much, simple as that. Just as I enjoy coffee in the morning before work, I'll always enjoy good beer once in a while in the evenings.

What I won't do anymore is abuse alcohol in a way that makes me call in sick next morning because of the hangover (it happened once, and that's one time too many). That's a truly God awful way of dealing with alcohol. You can be full of so many things, and if you're full of alcohol too often, that probably means you have an inner emptiness that you're desperate to fill up with something. That's why I think it's sad that the Swedish word for drunk is "full". In reality, it's about being empty, or being so full of desperation, fear, and anxiety up to the point where alcohol actually seems to numb you off.

Another Swedish word for drunk is "berusad", which literally means aroused. Arousal could be a good thing as well, but if you're aroused by alcohol, you're most certainly consuming it in the wrong way. And I don't say that from a moral viewpoint. It's simply bad for you.

So here's to the kind of alcohol consumption that REALLY contributes to the quality of life: exploring new tastes and sensations, surely feeling a bit relaxed by the alcohol, having the opportunity to hold speeches when you toast.

In conclusion, I'll share a few of my super-local beer moments as a tour leader around the world!

My rather temporary collection of Armenian beer and wine.

Georgian beer while waiting (in a somewhat trashy manner) for a connecting train outside of Tbilisi central railway station.

Chinese in-flight beer on my way to Pyongyang.

Extremely hard-to-find (but easy-to-drink) North Korean beer from a local brewery in Kaesong, North Korea.

Romanian beer "Ursus" in the city of Alba Iulia.

And finally - Iranian lunch-time beer in Teheran (totally non-alcoholic of course). Cheers!