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Borys Kosarev: Modernist Kharkiv, 1915-1931 at The Ukrainian Museum thru May 2, 2012
Posted by hanya on May 24, 2000 at 15:09:47:
In Reply to: Alcohol posted by Slavko on May 24, 2000 at 11:15:26:
: I don't think that most beverages mentioned in this survey are Ukrainian, but, anyway, I have a question: why people drink so much in Ukraine without any "rules and regulations"? It's a big disaster for the country but I never heard of any church raising this important question.
I don't know what the statistics are for alcoholism among Ukrainians, but I certainly don't think they're higher than for Russians or Poles or other Eastern European groups.
There is definitely a different philosophy among Ukrainians in Ukraine (different from Ukrainians elsewhere in the world, that is) - it is considered an insult to decline a drink even today. I'll agree with "Odesit" that this is a tradition that was probably reinforced under the Soviets, although I can't think of reason why it might have been deliberate.
On one of my recent trips to Ukraine, I experienced a singularly unpleasant episode when my non-Ukrainian companions refused to drink horilka and the Ukrainian host became violent as a result. It was an incomprehensible reaction for my American friends, and I was most embarassed by it.
How exactly and why is Western-style drinking of alcoholic beverages different?