Well, Ash Wednesday followed Pancake Tuesday this week and Lent has commenced. For the sixth year in a row I'm off the sauce. No alcohol 'til Easter. Forty days and forty nights, just like Jesus. But with the exception of St. Paddy's day of course (I'm Irish, Jesus wasn't).I gotta say though, it doesn't get any easier. I thought it would with each passing year, but it get's harder. Especially here in Japan where most socialising is alcohol orientated. Even at the office parties there is a lot of peer-pressure, mostly from the Principal, to drink and drink a lot. Cries of 'But it's my religion', are always met with mocking and slurred replies of 'Religion smeligion', so it's best just to stay at home.
And to make things worse, the lack of recreational drugs over here makes Lent seem twice as long. Hahaha, that's just a wee joke Mum and Dad. They're not lacking, they're just far too expensive.
Usually back home or when I was at University I would get some half-arsed attempts by friends or family to also try giving up this vital food group. Of course it never lasted more than a week or two, but through their failures I somehow gained strength. This year, however, I'm completely on my own and I've still a bunch on bottles in my 'liquor cabinet' (ie. next to my instant noodles). So I'm putting up the two posters here to remind that;
1) failure is not an option, and
2) it's not cool to give babies booze. even if it's only beer.
But I've got a bad feeling this year. It's only Day 3 and I'm whinging about it already.
Wish me luck.
1 comment:
hey mark! nice blog. your commitment to uphold what you believe in is very admirable and i wish you all the best in your forty-day "fast". keep writing bc even though i have (or am) visiting the same countries as you, our experiences in these places are immensely different! it's always fun to hear about the adventures you encounter in your search to travel the less trodden paths =) -mydene
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