On Saturday night we treated ourselves to a "put yourself together a six pack" that one of our local store does. I always love sticking in a Newcastle Brown - it's what I started drinking and takes me back to living in Newcastle as a student. Plus it's just darn right tasty. I was just going to post the above picture and be like "look booze from Detroit" but then I got to thinking about how my attitudes to drinking have done a total U-turn since being a student.
Going to Newcastle Uni as a student, drinking comes second nature. Newcastle is the party city after all. Prior to uni I rarely went out - its kinda limited when your town only has four pubs and everyone knows each other and you constantly see the same faces and the same fights. Moving to Newcastle was a huge culture shock and I fully embraced it. My suitcases of clothes and books where accompanied with packs of Bacardi and a bottle of Jack Daniels. I went to my first ever club during Freshers week and over the first year we (I say we meaning most of me and my house and "block" mates but predominately me and my closest friend at uni as many didn't opt for the Monday nights out) were going out drinking three times a week.
Monday night was (and most probably still is) student night, we'd head for a couple of bars and end up in Digital for the Superfly night - the indie night. This was in 2005/6 when indie music was my life and it was huge - think Libertines, Razorlight and Maximo Park and you're half way there. Thursday was a £1 a pint night - seeing we lived close to a Scream pub it was only right to make the most of it and to finish off the student week Friday night was spent at the student union making the most of their just rock bottom prices. Loads of our housemates went back at 10PM we stayed for the dancing and partied till 2AM.
I'd gone from not drinking to being to girl everyone knew would be drinking triple whiskey and cokes and skittles. Don't get me wrong I never had a problem, I knew when to stop and most of the time I was the one looking after my friend who was a little wild when drunk. So much she climbed into a Marks and Sparks trolley on the way back to our student flat and was stopped by the police in the process.
When people see me know they probably think i'm down right boring, I rarely drink, I actually don't like it anymore. Granted i'll have the odd whiskey or rum and coke but there's no way I'd get drunk anymore. I hate nightclubs now - probably because of all the drunks I've seen in my past, all the fighting, the creepy men and loosing of housemates. Maybe I went out too often as a student, maybe I just got it all out of my system. I see clubbing as something I did as a late teen, not what i'd do know as a late 20 year old and i'm so far removed from that person I can't see myself doing it.
Maximo Park! I still love them!
ReplyDeleteIt's strange, isn't it? I'm 46 and still aren't tired of clubs, town centre drinking, wild weekends and live gigs. Loved seeing your old photos. x
Yey for Maximo Park - I managed to see them twice while at Uni (they played in Newcastle a lot as it's their home town and all). I still love going to gigs - couldn't give that up!
DeleteI relate to this post soooo much. I've never been a big drinker but I loved to go clubbin' throughout uni and well into my early 20s. Now I much prefer some live music and a local pub. Strange isn't it?
ReplyDeleteYeah I like quiet little bars now, we have a bar designed a speakeasy near us which I like, the music is quiet, you don't get loads of insanely drunk people and it's a great atmosphere. Plus the cocktails are lush too!
DeleteI can definitely identify with what you are saying. I didn't go to uni, but I started working in an alternative nightclub when I was 18 and my social drinking started from there. Like you I would be out 2 or 3 times a week. I had a local Scream pub and I remember the £1 a pint nights, I would go every week religiously. My "little" brother now tells me that the drinks there are £1.50 - £2.00 now!
ReplyDeleteI'm 30 this year and hardly drink at all now and when I do I tend to drink a glass or two of wine. Maybe a pint of cider and black if I'm feeling a touch nostalgic.
It's funny how it's changed so much. It kind of creeped up on me. The thought of clubbing now feels me with dread. I would rather stay in with my fiancé and a cup of hot chocolate and I see nothing wrong with that at all! x
Haha it doesn't surprise me that they have raised their prices - still £1.50 to £2 is still a great price for drinks! Just to be a great way to spend a Thursday night, ours had a great patio and heaters so we just spent most of it outside - back when i had the old habit of social smoking too oops.
DeleteBut yeah I have that same feeling of dread when it comes to clubbing now. I feel more scared of it then I ever did before i'd ever been clubbing. I'm far more at home with a drink on the sofa watching a film!
Scream! There was one round the corner from my halls and it saved us a fortune on student nights out, being able to sharpen up there and wobble back without getting a cab if we stayed there rather than moving on. I was never out 4-5 nights per week like many of my flatmates but I did enjoy Thursdays out every week, plus whatever gigs I had tickets to. The NME tours used to be a highlight as Rock City was also just around the corner! :-)
ReplyDeleteNewcastle sounds like it was a brilliant city to go to Uni in! I've only had one 'night out' there but it was pretty good! :-)
Jem xXx
Those Scream pubs must make a right trade from students, but they were so good! But I was very spoilt being a student in Newcastle - it was amazing although it was a shocker when I was still up there over the summer as a masters student because we still had lecturers and the like after the normal term was over. The city was so quiet - certainly a student city. Although as a student we were always kinda carefree of never really going clubbing at the weekend when the locals were out, more for the sake of the super posh kids who thought they were gods gift and all.
DeleteI even thickened up my skin to be like a local and go without a coat in the winter. Man only knows how I managed that!