You're in a strange city. You have a choice of two sets of evening plans. Pick one.

[eyesroll]

Binary poll here.

Assume you speak the city's language, can afford to do either, have been invited to do both, and risks to your safety are minimal and equal with each choice. Straightforwardly, what would you prefer to do?


I'm very much a Choice 2 person, and I think I'm in the minority -- when I went to Costa Rica on a quick exchange, I much preferred hanging out with my host family and the students at the university to going to bars.

Ditto New Orleans -- I went for a week last March on a service trip. We had optional programs most nights -- one night we were invited to Malik Rahim's house (he founded the relief organization we worked for and rode out the storm with 80 people in his double-shotgun house in Algiers); another night we could go to a restaurant to talk about restorative justice with another resident. I always went to the optional programs -- the way I figure it, I can go to a bar here. I'm not much of a drinker in any case. (My group did not seek out jazz/zydeco/etc., which may have swayed me differently -- it was always drinking at a bar, which I can do here.) But I understand why people would want/need to do something different, especially in New Orleans. I found it easier to stay immersed, than to go be a tourist then come back to the mess, but I think that was just me.

[ThomCat]

1. Bars are boring.

You can actually hear people and talk in restaurants. Plus the food is worth eating.

[redqueen]

2. I voted for option 2, BUT... were I in Ireland or England or Scotland...

I might change my mind and say a pub for sure. :)


When you say "bar" I think club... and those are just not places to have good conversation / enjoy companionship.

[eyesroll]

5. I see what you mean (see respose to Fran below).

I see that as more reflective of local culture, anyway.

[Fran Kubelik]

3. wait...

If I go check out the nightlife, can I do it on my terms? Being stuck in a living room making small talk with a bunch of strangers really doesn't appeal, but neither does just hanging out in a bar. Most cities have other nightlife options, don't they?

[eyesroll]

4. Well, the one in Costa Rica didn't (small city)...I'm specifically thinking bar/club.

When I've traveled with other students, that seemed to be the default. Yeah, bars and clubs are different, but like I said, I'm not much of a drinker. Unless it's something specifically reflective of the local culture (like I said -- a jazz club in New Orleans, a pub in Ireland as Redqueen suggested), I really have no interest in sitting at a bar. Or dancing at a club. I have a hard time differentiating between Club X and Club Y even when people tell me "well Club X has martinis and house music and gets people in their late 20s and is all chrome and Club Y has shooters and 80s music and caters to people in their mid 20s and has a ladybug theme." To me, dance clubs all sort of blend.

Malik Rahim's house wasn't making small talk with strangers -- we shared dessert and talked about Malik's story and what we could do. (I suppose I might have clarified that -- sitting around making small talk with strangers isn't necessarily interesting to me, either...but I prefer the private conversation opportunities to sitting or standing or dancing with a drink.)

[redqueen]

6. "private conversation opportunities"

Yup, that's it exactly.


edit: and I don't mean having to shout in someone's ear to be heard over a bunch of noise...