Rounds

We went to a pub for an engagement party last night (one of Chris' labmates is getting married). It's been awhile since we've been out with Brits and I had sort of forgotten how popular and annoying "rounds" are. A round is when someone decides they need another drink then asks everyone standing/sitting near them who else would like a drink. The idea is that someone different offers to buy everyone a round the next time around.

You can, of course, imagine the problem with this system. Not everyone wants a drink at the same time and people leave throughout the night, so each round has a different number of people. With a big group you might end up buying 20 drinks, but by the end of the night someone who's just taking their turn might only buy 5 drinks for the remaining people.

Nobody seems to really keep track or be offended if they'd had to buy more drinks than others. It's just an accepted practice when going to the pub. I've also found that Brits don't like it when people aren't drinking, so even when you say you're done for the night, the drinks keep coming.

The picture below, from last night, is of Yotis (Canadian labmate), Chris and Chris (boyfriend of a labmate). The Chris on the far right joined the picture of the two North American boys because he's wearing a Minnesota shirt :) He's never been to the U.S, he just liked the shirt. Those types of shirts are quite popular here which I find strange, especially because it's random states. Florida, New York or California would make sense, but instead it's often states from the heartland of America.