17:00 Vi
indser, at vi ikke endnu har aftalt med vores yngste datter, Sarah, om/hvornår
vi i morgen kan tale med hende på telefon eller på Skype. Men vi ser på uret.
Klokken er nu midnatstid i Perth, så det er alt for sent i dag. Vi har to urer
i vores stue, den ene viser klokken i Storbritannien, den anden viser klokken i
Vestaustralien.
Vores to ure i stuen: den britiske og den australske – du godeste!
Det er meget
underligt at se på vores ”australske” ur, fordi klokken derovre er så
anderledes. Når vi går i seng om aftenen, begynder Sarah at vågne og overveje
at stå op og tage på arbejde. Når vi står op om morgenen, er Sarahs arbejdsdag
næsten forbi, og hun er ved at overveje at tage hjem igen. Du godeste, sikke en
skør verden vi lever i !
Det er også
svært at tro, men kl 12 i Australien står solen i nord. Du
godeste, noget er gået galt med universet – det har jeg ingen tvivl om !!!
18:00 Vi
spiser aftensmad og derefter bruger vi aftenen på at se lidt fjernsyn og lytte
til radio. De viser en interessant dokumentarfilm, der handler om Cutty Sark, et
berømte sejlskib, der blev bygget i det 19. århundrede.
Dette skib,
der var i mange årtier verdens hurtigste skib, blev involveret i at
transportere for det første te fra Kina, og senere uld fra Australien. Det
spillede også en stor rolle ved at transportere britiske indvandrere og
”eksportere” den britiske kultur og levemåde til Australien i de seneste årtier
af det 19. århundrede.
For det
skotske værft, hvor skibet blev bygget, var ”Cutty Sark” det første og det
sidste skib, som de byggede. Værftet gik i konkurs derefter, fordi skibets
skotske ejer tillod dem ikke at lave en fortjeneste – uha, han var ikke den
første eller den sidste nærige forretningsmand i Skotland – ingen tvivl om det!
Skibet ligger
nu i Londons havn. Lois og jeg besøgte det i december 2004, men desværre var
der en stor brand i 2007, så da jeg prøvede at besøge det igen i august 2008
sammen med min ungarske veninde, Tünde, var det umuligt at se på det, fordi
restaureringsarbejdet stadigvæk ikke endnu var færdigt.
Cutty Sark, da Lois og jeg besøgte skibet i december 2004
December 2004: vi står på skibets dæk
August 2008: snart efter den triste brand blev det umuligt at besøge skibet.
August 2008: min ungarske veninde, Tünde, tager et foto af det
restaureringsprojekt.
21:00 Det er
rart nu at kunne slukke for fjernsynet og lytte lidt til radio, et interessant
program der handler om Star Trek, den sci-fi serie, der startede for 50 år
siden, den 8. september 1966.
Programmets
vært, Kevin Fong, taler eksempelvis med George Takei (der spillede hr Sulu), og
Rod Roddenberry (søn af Gene Roddenberry, seriens producer). Og vi hører de
optagede stemmer af William Shatner (kaptajn Kirk), Leonard Nimoy (hr Spock) og
Michelle Nichols (Lt. Ohura).
Det underlige
ved serien er, at Gene Roddenbury ville gerne vise, i løbet af et uroligt årti
(1960’erne – etnisk og international spænding, den kolde krig, begyndelserne af
feminisme osv), en meget optimistisk vision om fremtiden: seriens ikoniske rumskib, USS Enterprise,
havde en multietnisk og multinational besætning, kvindelige officere, og en
spændende mission – at udforske universet og finde nye verdener. Serien fejrede
også den menneskelige sjæl.
Eksemplet af
Michelle Nichols, der spillede Lt Ohura, en sort, kvindelig officer,
inspirerede mange unge sorte amerikanere til at søge et job som astronaut, herunder
Charles Bolden, den første sorte astronaut, og senere administrationschef på
NASA. Nichols prøvede på et tidspunkt at
forlade serien, men én af seriens største fans, Martin Luther King, overtalte
hende til at fortsætte med rollen.
Samtidig var
serien nogle gange et produkt af sin tid. Jeg husker, at mange af de aliener,
som Enterprise-besætningen mødte på andre planeter, var kvinder iført frække
bikinier – du godeste! Og da Kirk er tvunget af aliener til at kysse Ohuru,
fortæller han hende at ”kvinder vil altid være (kun?) kvinder”. Du godeste
(igen)! Ræk mig lige opkastningspose, Alice!!!
22:00 Vi går i
seng – zzzzz!!!!!
05:00 Jeg står
tidligt op og laver én af mine rutinemæssige danske ordforrådtester. Bagefter
skynder jeg mig ind i køkkenet og laver to kopper te. Jeg bringer dem op på
vores soveværelse. Vi ligger inde i sengen og drikker teen. Vi går i bad og
står op. Vi spiser morgenmad.
10:00 Vi taler
lidt på telefon med Sarah, vores yngste datter, der bor i Perth, Australien,
sammen med Francis, sin mand, og deres 3-årige tvillinger, Lily og Jessica.
Familien har det godt, men der bliver ved med at komme små forandringer på
hendes arbejdsplads, og der er en usikker stemningen i firmaet. Sarah har
besluttet at gå i gang med at søge et andet job i området, for det tilfælde af,
at hendes kontrakt ikke bliver fornyet – du godeste!
Vi taler også
lidt med Lily og Jessica, og vi fortæller dem, hvor meget vi elsker dem. Lily
danser for us, men desværre kan vi kun høre musikken – vi taler på telefon!!!
Sarah siger,
at Francis, hendes mand, føler sig nu mere hjemme i Yanchep-området (den by,
hvor familien nogle uger siden flyttede til) og han spillede golf i går på den
lokale golfklub.
10:45 Lois
skal af sted. Der er to gudstjenester, der i dag finder sted i Tewkesbury, hun gerne
vil deltage i. Hun kører med Maggie, sin veninde. Lois vil ikke køre vores bil
for tiden, på grund af sin grå stær – uha, stakkels Lois!
11:30 Jeg går
i gang med at støvsuge overalt i huset. Jeg spiser frokost og bagefter går jeg
i seng og tager mig en gigantisk eftermiddagslur – zzzzzz!!!!!
14:30 Jeg står
op og hopper op på min kondicykel. Jeg cykler 6 miles (10km). Hurra! Nu ved jeg, at jeg kan blive rask igen!
Mens jeg cykler, kigger jeg på Svenske TVs “Drop In” popmusikprogram fra 1963
som jeg får på min smartphone.
Svenske TVs “Drop In” popmusikprogram (1963)
16:00 Lois
kommer hjem igen og vi slapper af med en kop te på sofaen.
English translation
17:00 We realize that we have not yet agreed with our
youngest daughter, Sarah, if / when tomorrow we can talk to her on the phone or
on Skype. But we look at the clock. The time is now midnight in Perth, so it's
too late today. We have two clocks in our living room, the one showing the time
in Britain, the other showing the time in Western Australia.
Our two clocks in the living room: the
British and Australian - my goodness!
It is very strange to look at our "Australian"
clock because the time over there is so different. When we go to bed in the
evening, Sarah is beginning to wake up and thinking about getting up and going
to work. When we get up in the morning, Sarah's working-day is almost over, and
she is thinking about going back home. My goodness, what a crazy world we live
in!
It is also hard to believe it but at 12 noon in
Australia, the sun is in the north. My God, something has gone wrong with the
universe - I have no doubt about that !!!
18:00 Dinner and then we spend the evening watching TV
and listening to the radio. They show an interesting documentary that is about the Cutty Sark, a famous sailing ship that was built in the 19th century.
This ship, which was for many decades the world's fastest
ship was involved in transporting firstly tea from China, and later wool from
Australia. It also played a major role in transporting British immigrants and
"exporting" the British culture and way of life to Australia in the
last decades of the 19th century.
For the Scottish shipyard where the ship was built, the"Cutty Sark" was the first and
the last ship they built. The yard went into bankruptcy afterwards because the
ship's Scottish owner did not allow them to make a profit - oh dear, he was not
the first or the last stingy businessman in Scotland - no doubt about that!
The ship is now in London's docklands. Lois and I visited
it in December 2004, but unfortunately there was a big fire in 2007, so when I
tried to visit it again in August 2008 with my Hungarian friend, Tünde, it
was impossible to look at it because restoration work was still not finished.
The Cutty Sark, when Lois
and I visited the ship in December 2004
December 2004: we are on
the ship's deck
August 2008: soon after
the sad fire, it was impossible to visit the ship.
August 2008: my
Hungarian friend, Tünde, takes a photo of the restoration project.
21:00 It's nice now to be able to turn off the TV and
listen to some radio, an interesting program which is about Star Trek, the
sci-fi series that began 50 years ago, on 8 September 1966.
The program's host, Kevin Fong, talks for example with
George Takei (who played Mr. Sulu) and Rod Roddenberry (son of Gene
Roddenberry, the show's producer). And we hear the recorded voices of William
Shatner (Captain Kirk), Leonard Nimoy (Mr. Spock) and Michelle Nichols (Lt.
Ohura).
The weird thing about the series is that Gene Roddenbury
wanted to show, during a turbulent decade (1960s - ethnic and international
tension, the Cold War, the beginnings of feminism, etc.), a very optimistic
vision of the future: the series' iconic spaceship USS Enterprise, had a
multi-ethnic and multi-national crew, female junior officers, and an exciting
mission - to explore the universe and discover new worlds. The series also
celebrated the human spirit.
The example of Michelle Nichols, who played Lt. Ohura, a
black female officer, inspired many young black Americans to seek a job as an
astronaut, including Charles Bolden, the first black astronaut, and later head
of administration at NASA. Nichols tried at one point to leave the series, but
one of the series' biggest fans, Martin Luther King, persuaded her to continue
with the role.
At the same time the series was often a product of
its time. I remember that many of the aliens that the Enterprise crew met on
other planets were women wearing saucy bikinis - my goodness! And when Kirk is
forced by aliens to kiss Ohuru, he tells her that "women will always be
(only?) women." My God (again)! Pass the sickbag, Alice !!!
05:00 I get up early and do one of my routine Danish
vocabulary tests. Afterwards I hurry into the kitchen and make two cups of tea.
I bring them up to our bedroom. We lie in bed and drink the tea. We take a
shower and get up. We eat breakfast.
10:00 We speak a little on the phone with Sarah, our youngest
daughter, who lives in Perth, Australia, along with Francis, her husband and
their 3-year-old twins, Lily and Jessica. The family is doing well, but there
continue to be small changes at her workplace, and there is an uncertain mood
in the company. Sarah has decided to embark on the search for another job in
the area, in the event that her contract is not renewed - my goodness!
We also talk a little with Lily and Jessica, and we tell
them how much we love them. Lily dances for us, but unfortunately we can only
hear the music - we are only talking on the phone after all !!!
Sarah says Francis, her husband, now feels more at home
in the Yanchep area (the town where the family moved to a few weeks ago) and he
played golf yesterday at the local golf club.
10:45 Lois has to be off. There are two services that are
taking place today in Tewkesbury, that she wants to participate in. She rides
with Maggie, her friend. Lois will not drive our car at the moment, because of
her cataracts - oh, poor Lois!
11:30 I begin to vacuum everywhere in the house. I eat
lunch and then I go to bed and take a gigantic nap - zzzzzz !!!!!
14:30 I get up and hop up on my exercise bike. I ride 6
miles (10km). Hoorah! Now I know that I can get well again! While I cycle, I
look at Swedish television's "Drop In" pop music program from 1963
which I get on my smartphone.
Swedish television's "Drop In"
pop music program (1963)
16:00 Lois comes home again and we relax with a cup of
tea on the sofa.
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