One data point: I grew up in the U.S

I am from the Philippines and western expats are mostly the ones who gets dead drunk here. I guess they really liked our beers here, the atmosphere, the women, the beach, the value of money. I don’t drink too, antisocial and still having a pretty good career by ditching happy hours, and all those after work nonsense. This article is pretty bad nonetheless.

Another anecdote from me too; I was working in Japan for 12 years, and a lot of it was as a self-employed IT consultant. I don't drink and I never drank ever and was fairly well off by the end of it all. This is not a rare situation anymore either; I know a lot of younger Japanese people who simply refuse to drink. It's no surprise either; alcohol is not cheap on excursions, and the company doesn't pay the bill very often anymore.

Are Americans actually considered “extremely direct”? Any foreigners on here able to chime in on if that generalization rings true?

Would you have been satisfied if the statement said "... are often strongly idealised ..."? Aren't generalizations implicitly simplistic for the majority, while not necessarily true for the minority? Couldn't you say that you are generalizing too much about the author's generalizations? I found your anecdotes interesting, but I often wonder why people take offense at generalizations. East Asian countries are incredibly distinct from each other. I'm not sure that they value drinking beer more than Germans, or wine more than the French? But one vacation spot I know had drunk Chinese die from drunk drowning on a weekly basis. Which may suggest that some groups drink too much, and lack self-control.

I also have to question the point about “direct negative feedback” quoted from Meyer, 2014. In many Indian companies, it is perfectly acceptable to provide negative feedback in public, and in an extremely aggressive way (shouting etc.) which is why people will often go to lengths to prevent others from discovering their mistakes.

I get the impression the variable is not social drinking but social adaptitude. I do want your opinion on the matter, however. Every native Japanese person I have known is incredibly reserved. As an example, I had a Japanese coworker, and I did not even know they had a wife until they corrected me in conversation. Maybe it is the subtle aspects of the language (my Japanese is still not great)? I am looking to establish an EOR in Japan and eventually move there with the goal of citizenship, but I've been holding off until I understand the language well enough to get by without outside help.