17:00 Lois er stadig ude. Hun deltager i dag i et kirkeseminar i Worcester,
sammen med sin veninde, Mari-ann. Maria-anns mand, Alf, har besluttet at gå
glip af dagens seminar, fordi han skulle passe på to af parrets halv-polske børnebørn
hele dagen – stakkels Alf, de to børnebørn er begge to under 5 år gamle og Alf
er sikkert i gang med at have en meget vanskelig dag i dag!!!!
Lois fortalte mig i morges, at seminarets sidste session slutter kl 19, og
hun troede, at hun ville komme hjem igen omkring kl 20 eller 21.
Dagens kirkeseminar i Worcester
Jeg skynder mig ind i køkkenet og laver aftensmad: fiskepinde, kartofler og
baked beans – nam nam !
19:00 Efter maden, sætter jeg mig til rette i min yndlingslænestol og
tænker på, hvad jeg gerne vil se i aften på fjernsyn. Jeg smutter lige ind i
køkkenet for at lave en kop kaffe, da jeg hører Lois komme ind ad hoveddøren,
dvs en time tidligere, end forventet.
Hun siger, at Mari-Ann besluttede at de begge to skulle gå glip af
seminarets sidste session, fordi hun havde ondt af sin mand, Alf, der havde
brugt hele dagen på at passe på parrets to halv-polske små børnebørn. Stakkels
Alf !!!!
Lois nød seminaret, men desværre drejede ét af seminarets vigtigste
debatter sig om dette spørgsmål: hvordan brugte de forskellige kirker de
specielle briefingpakker, som seminarets ledere havde distribueret efter sidste
års sessioner. Desværre havde hverken Lois eller Mari-Anne hørt om disse
briefingpakker – du godeste! Noget gik åbenbart galt, og bureaukratiet
mislykkedes igen – det har jeg ikke nogen tvivl om !!!!
20:00 Lois og jeg sætter os til rette i sofaen og bruger resten af aftenen
på at se lidt fjernsyn. De viser ”Tony Robinson Down Under”, en interessant
dokumentarfilm (første del af 6), der handler om Australiens historie, et emne
der for tiden meget interesserer Lois og mig, fordi vi tidligere på aret
tilbragte 3 måneder derover, og besøgte vores datter Sarah i Perth, Lois’s
kusine i Melbourne, og Lois’s fætter i Adelaide.
Vi så faktisk to af seriens afsnit, mens vi var i Australien: det ene
handlede om Melbournes historie, det andet Adelaides historie, men vi har ikke
set i aftens (første) afsnit, der handler om James Cooks opdagelsesrejse til
Australiens østkyst i 1769-1770 og (17 år senere i 1787) ankomsten af ca.1500
britiske bosættere i New South Wales.
Det er interessant, at det kunne have været, at Storbritanniens annektering
af Australien ikke skete. Det hele var lidt tilfældigt, og det var kun på grund
af det britiske ønske om at observere transit af Venus, at Cook påbegyndte sin
rejse til New Zealand og Australien. Hans skib, Endeavour, landede på Australiens
østkyst i Botany Bay, og skibets videnskabsmand, Joseph Banks, blev meget
begejstret for områdets dyreliv, blomster osv. Cook og Banks roste Botany Bay
til skyerne, da de kom hjem igen til England, og anbefalede at britiske
bosættere flytter derover. De sagde, at Botany Bay var ideelt til dette formål.
Men da de 1500 bosættere ankom i 1788, så de umiddelbart, at Botany Bay var
nederen, røv og nøgler – uha! De gik så i gang med at søge et bedre sted i
nærheden, og de faldt over en havn, som de kaldte Port Jackson (nu Sydney Cove).
De første britiske bosættere så umiddelbart, at Botany Bay var nederen !
Det er svært at tro, men Cook og Banks havde 18 år tidligere sejlede forbi
verdens bedste havn (Sydney) uden at bemærke den – du godeste! Sikke en
overraskende fejl !!!!
Bosætterne bestod af ca 1400 mænd og 100 kvinder, herunder mange
straffefanger, og omkring 40 børn blev født under rejsen fra England. Det er
interessant, at ifølge den oprindelige plan om at annektere Australien, var
landet betragtet som et sted, som amerikanske loyalister kunne flytte til. Men
det blev mere presserende at finde et land, hvor straffefanger kunne blive
sendt, efter det blev umuligt at starte nye strafferetlige kolonier i USA –
uha! Sikke en skør verden vi lever i
!!!!
22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzz !!!!
04:30 Jeg står tidligt op og laver én af mine rutinemæssige danske ordforrådtester.
Bagefter spiser jeg morgenmad. Lois var godt træt i aftes, så jeg lader hende
sove længe i dag.
09:00 Jeg laver en kop te og bringer den op på vores soveværelse. Vi går i
bad.
10:30 Vi taler lidt på telefon med vores yngste datter, Sarah, der bor i
Perth, Australien, sammen med Francis, sin mand, og deres 3-årige tvillinger,
Lily og Jessica.
Vi ønsker hende tillykke med det nye job, hun fik i onsdags. Jobbet starter
den 1. november. Firmaet er TDL (Tim Davis Landscaping), og det er Western Australias
markedsleder, når det kommer til landskabarkitektur, både privat og kommerciel,
for eksempel hoteller osv. Firmaet har designet (og bygget) landskaber for
mange forretninger i Perth. Sarah siger, at TDL dybest set er et venligt
familiefirma, men de ansatter mange medarbejdere. Hun vil blive firmaets
regnskabschef, med 2 assistenter.
TDL har til huse i en bygning, der ligger i Osborne Park nær Stirling, en
lille forstad til Perth. Lois og jeg stod af toget i Stirling, mens vi boede
hos Sarah tidligere på året, og vi tog så en bus fra Stirling banegård til
Hillary’s Harbour, en attraktiv havn, hvor byens akvarium også ligger.
TDL har til huse i Osborne Park i nærheden af Stirling, en lille forstad til
Perth
Sarah blev inviteret til 2 interviews i tirsdags, og begge firmaer tilbød
hende et job. I tilfældet af TDL var der sammenlagt 123 ansøgere, hvilket
viser, at Sarah må have været en meget god kandidat, i betragtning af, at hun
kun har været i Australien i 10 måneder!
Francis, Sarahs mand, arbejder stadig for én af sine tidligere klienter i
Storbritannien, men arbejdet er nu næsten færdigt. Han er ikke endnu færdig med
at skrive sit cv, som han startede i juni, da vi boede hos familien – du
godeste! Han planlægger at ansøge om et job, hvor han skal sælge nye boliger og/eller
byggegrunde. Hvis han får et job, så vil han og Sarah søge en god lokal
dagplejer, der kunne passe på tvillingerne i hverdagen. De har hørt, at et nyt
børneplejecenter snart bliver åbent for offentligheden i det lokale område.
Vi taler lidt med Sarahs 3-årige tvillinger, Lily og Jessica. De kan nu
tale meget godt, meget mere flydende og velformuleret, end før, især Lily. De
takker os for de små armbånd, vi sendte dem.
12:00 Vi spiser frokost, og derefter skal Lois af sted. Hun vil deltage i
en gudstjeneste, der i dag finder sted i Tewkesbury. Hun kører med sin veninde,
Maggie.
13:00 Jeg går i seng og tager mig en gigantisk eftermiddagslur – zzzzz!!!!
15:30 Jeg står op. Lois kommer hjem igen og vi slapper af med en kop te på
sofaen. Vi har aftalt med Alison, vores ældste datter, der bor i København, at
vi vil tale kl 17 på Skype med hende, også med Ed og deres 3 børn – hurra!
English translation
17:00 Lois is still out. She is
taking part in a church seminar in Worcester today, along with her friend
Mari-Ann. Maria-Ann’s husband, Alf, has decided to miss out on today's seminar
because he had to take care of two of the couple's half-Polish grandchildren all
day - poor Alf, the two grandchildren are both under 5 years old and Alf is
certainly going to have a very difficult day today !!!!
Lois told me this morning that
the seminar's last session ends at 7pm, and she thought she would be coming
home again at around 8 or 9pm.
Today’s church seminar at Worcester
I hurry into the kitchen and make
dinner: fish fingers, potato and baked beans - yum yum!
19:00 After dinner, I sit down in
my favorite armchair and think about what I want to see tonight on television.
I'm just popping into the kitchen to make a cup of coffee when I hear Lois come
in the front door, that is, one hour earlier than expected.
She says Mari-Ann decided that
both of them would miss out on the seminar's final session because she felt sorry
for her husband, Alf, who had spent all day looking after the couple's two
small half-Polish grandchildren. Poor Alf !!!!
Lois enjoyed the seminar, but
unfortunately one of the seminar's most important debates turned on this
question: how did the different churches use the special briefing packs that
seminar leaders had distributed after last year's sessions. Unfortunately,
neither Lois or Mari-Anne had heard about these briefing packs - my god!
Something obviously went wrong and the bureaucracy failed again - I have no
doubt of THAT !!!!
20:00 Lois and I settle down on
the sofa and use the rest of the evening to watch TV. They show "Tony
Robinson Down Under", an interesting documentary (Part 1 of 6), which is
about Australian history, a subject which is currently very interesting for
Lois and me because earlier in the year we spent three months over there, and
visited our daughter Sarah in Perth, Lois's cousin in Melbourne, and Lois's
cousin in Adelaide.
We actually saw two of the
series's episodes while we were in Australia: one dedicated to the Melbourne's
history, the second Adelaide's history, but we have not seen tonight's (first)
episode that is about James Cook's voyage of discovery to the east coast of
Australia in 1769- 1770 and (17 years later in 1787) the arrival of around.1500
British settlers in New South Wales.
It is interesting that it could
have been that Britain's annexation of Australia did not happen. It was all a
bit random, and it was only because of the British desire to observe the
transit of Venus that Cook began his trip to New Zealand and Australia. His
ship, the Endeavour, landed on the east coast of Australia at Botany Bay and
the ship's scientist, Joseph Banks, was very enthusiastic about the area's
wildlife, flowers, etc.. Cook and Banks praised Botany Bay to the skies when
they came back home to England, and recommended that British settlers move over
there. They said that Botany Bay was ideal for this purpose.
But when the 1500 settlers arrived
in 1788, they saw immediately that Botany Bay was a bummer, a sick joke - oh
dear! They then began to look for a better place nearby and they came upon a
port called Port Jackson (now Sydney Cove).
The settlers saw immediately that Botany
Bay was a bummer!
It's hard to believe, but Cook
and Banks had 18 years earlier sailed past the world's best harbor (Sydney)
without noticing it - my goodness! What a surprising mistake !!!!
The settlers consisted of about
1400 men and 100 women, including many convicts, and about 40 children were
born during the voyage from England. It is interesting that according to the
original plan to annex Australia, the country was regarded as a place that
American loyalists could move to. But it became more urgent to find a country
where convicts could be sent after it became impossible to start new penal
colonies in the USA - oh dear! What a crazy world we live in !!!!
22:00 We go to bed - zzzzz !!!!
04:30 I get up early and do one
of my routine Danish vocabulary tests. Afterwards I eat breakfast. Lois was
very tired last night, so I let her sleep late today.
09:00 I make a cup of tea and
bring it up to our bedroom. We take a shower.
10:30 We speak a little on the
telephone with our youngest daughter, Sarah, who lives in Perth, Australia,
along with Francis, her husband and their 3-year-old twins, Lily and Jessica.
We wish her congratulations on
the new job, she got last Wednesday. The job starts on 1 November. The company
is TDL (Tim Davis Landscaping), and it is Western Australia's market leader
when it comes to landscape architecture, both private and commercial, for
example, hotels, etc. The company has designed (and built) landscapes for many
businesses in Perth. Sarah says that TDL basically is a friendly family business,
but they employ many workers. She will be the company's chief accountant, with
two assistants.
TDL is housed in a building that
is located in Osborne Park near Stirling, a small suburb of Perth. Lois and I
got off the train in Stirling while we lived with Sarah earlier this year, and
we then took a bus from Stirling railway station to Hillary's Harbour, an
attractive harbor, where the city aquarium is also located.
TDL is located in Osborne Park near
Stirling, a small suburb of Perth
Sarah was invited to two
interviews on Tuesday, and both companies offered her a job. In the case of the
TDL one there were a total of 123 candidates, indicating that Sarah must have been
a very good candidate in view of the fact that she has only been in Australia for
10 months!
Francis, Sarah's husband, is
still working for one of his former clients in the UK, but the work is now
almost finished. He has not yet finished writing his resume, which he started
in June when we lived with the family - my god! He plans to apply for a job
where he has to sell new homes and / or building land. If he gets a job, he and Sarah
will seek a good local childminder who could take care of the twins during the
week. They have heard that a new childcare center will soon be open to the
public in the local area.
We talk a bit with Sarah's 3-year-old
twins, Lily and Jessica. They can talk very well, much more fluently and
articulately than before, especially Lily. They thank us for the little
bracelets we sent them.
12:00 We eat lunch, and then Lois
must away. She wants to attend a church service taking place today in
Tewkesbury. She is riding with her
friend, Maggie.
13:00 I go to bed and take a
gigantic afternoon nap - zzzzz !!!!
15:30 I get up. Lois comes home
again and we relax with a cup of tea on the sofa. We have agreed with Alison,
our oldest daughter who lives in Copenhagen, that we will talk at 5pm on Skype
with her, also with Ed and their three children - hurrah!
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