18:00 Vi spiser aftensmad og bagefter kigger jeg ud af vores spisestues
vindue, og jeg ser supermånen titter frem bag skyerne og træernes bladene i
øst. Vi skynder os ud i forhaven for at kigge på den. Jeg prøver at tage et
souvenirfoto, men min smartphone er ikke én af de bedste, og mit kamera er
elendigt – du godeste, mit udstyr har skuffet mig igen, ingen tvivl om det!!!
Dette er månen, vi har ventet 68 år for, men Lois og jeg er enige i, at
månen i 1948 var større, da vi var små stumper, siddende på vores mødres skød! Åh,
de gode gamle dage! ”At Last The 1948 Moon!!!” (copyright John Cleese) – hurra!
”At
Last the 1948 Moon!” men supermånen er desværre meget mere
imponerende
i virkeligheden, end i dette foto, er jeg sikker på! Pokkers!
Vi kommer indenfor igen og bruger resten af aftenen på at se lidt fjernsyn.
De viser University Challenge og Only Connect, to tv-quizzer, og to af de få
tv-programmer, der ikke er egnede til meget dumme mennesker hehe.
Vi ser disse to programmer hver mandag. Men hvad angår Only Connect, er der
i aften noget lidt anderledes end normalt. Victoria Coren Mitchell, programmets
charmerende vært, taler ”privat” med seerne, før quizzen begynder: en undskyldning på forhånd, men også en udfordring –
der findes en fejl i aftenens quiz, og hun udfordrer os til at spotte den – du
godeste, Lois og jeg bliver pludselig tændt, ingen tvivl om det!
Programmets vært, den charmerende Victoria Coren Mitchell,
udfordrer
seerne til at spotte en lille fejl i aftenens program – du godeste!
Lois
og jeg bliver pludselig "tændt" – ingen tvivl om det!!!
Da fejlen faktisk forekommer, bemærker Lois den desværre ikke, og jeg er i
gang med at døse lidt – zzzzz! Pokkers! Jeg håber, vi ikke skal vente endnu 68
år på den næste fejl – det ved jeg med sikkerhed!
Fejlen er overraskende: spørgsmålet drejer sig om at finde en forbindelse
mellem 4 billeder,
Brendan Rodgers (fodboldklub manager), Venus Williams (den berømte
tennisspiller), en bunke stålstænger, og Mark Owen (popsanger, medlem af ”Take
That”).
Svaret er (ifølge programmets vært), at disse 4 billeder repræsenterer de 4
politikere, såkaldte ”Gang of Four”, der startede et nyt politiske parti i
1981, ”SDP”, det socialdemokratiske parti. ”Gang of Four” bliver nævnt som Bill
Rodgers, Shirley Williams, David Steel og David Owen.
Det tredje billeder skildrer en bunke stålstænger, for at representere
David Steel, det liberale partiets leder, men faktisk var det Roy Jenkins og
ikke David Steel, der var en af de 4 politikere. Åh nej, sikke et bommert!!!
Pinlig !!!
Programmets pinlige bommert – du godeste!
Pinlig
men også meget spændende. Jeg håber, vi ikke skal vente
endnu
68 år på at se den næste!!!!
22:00 Vi går i seng i en tilstand af ophidelse (to usædvanlige begivenheder
i én aften!) men snart glider over i søvnen – zzzzz!!!!
04:30 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 og kryber tilbage i vores seng. Vi
drikker teen og så tager et brusebad. Vi står op og spiser morgenmad.
10:00 Min ven, ”Magyar Mike” kommer og vi lærer ungarsk i en time. Han
fortæller mig om sin barnebarn, Stephen, der for tiden tilbringer et studieår i
Prag. Han bruger weekenderne til at besøge nærliggende hovedstader og storbye
med bussen – sidste uge var det Wien, næste uge Krakow, og derefter måske
Budapest. Studieårene er den bedste tid til at rejse og se verden – ingen tvivl
om det!
11:00 Mike skal af sted. Lois og jeg går ud i baghaven, luger lidt og rydder
op. Skraldebilen og genbrugsvognen kommer tidligt i morgen og indsamlingen
begynder kl 7, så jeg skal sikre, at skraldespanden og haveaffaldsspanden er
begge fyldt til bristepunktet – hehe! Stakkels mænd!!!!!
12:00 Jeg ringer til Thomas Cook, der driver en rejsebureau midt i byen og
bestiller £100 i danske kroner. Der er ikke nogen brug for at tage store
mængder kontanter, når vi flyver derover, fordi man kan bruge kreditkort i de
fleste butikker osv. Selv når man køber noget meget meget billigt, kan man
sagtens bruge et kreditkort eller betalingskort, for eksempel, på flyet, da vi
beder om en kop kaffe osv. Faktisk holder flyselskabets stewardesser ikke ret
meget af at handle kontanter, og de ser lidt sure ud i et kort øjeblik – du godeste, sikke en skør verden vi lever i!
Vi skal afhente vores rejsepenge i morgen, når vi er i byen for at købe
nogle julegaver til vores børnebørn i Australien. Vi overvejer at købe dem bløde dækker børnebøger
– de vejer ikke ret meget – også kunst- og kunsthåndværksmateriale, fordi Lily
og Jessica går højt op i tegninger, malerier og lignende.
13:00 Vi spiser frokost og derefter går jeg i seng og tager mig en
gigantisk eftermiddagslur – zzzzzz!!!!
15:00 Jeg står op og kigger lidt på nettet. Jeg ser, at danskerne er de næstbedste i verden (hollænderne topper listen – du
godeste!) til at tale engelsk, når man
fraregner folkefærd med engelsk som modersmål, viser den årlige rangordning af
engelskkundskaberne i 72 lande.
Jeg er overrasket at høre,
at danskerne er ikke så gode
til at tale engelsk som
hollænderne – uha!
Det ser ud til, at Lois og jeg
må hellere tale engelsk hele tiden vi er i Danmark ved juletid, for at give
danskerne mere øvelse - du godeste,
sikke et vanvid!!!
Det er tilsyneladende enormt
klassisk for mange danskere, at de har et stort passivt ordforråd. De er gode
til at lytte, læse og forstå. Og de bliver jo også enormt eksponerede i engelsk
i skolelivet, via film og fjernsyn, ifølge Stina Lema.
En del danskere har svært ved at huske at tilføje
et s i tredjeperson: I like to run - he likes to run. De er gode
til at stille høftlige spørgsmål. Men ren høflighed er de ikke gode til. Det
handler måske også om, at ordet "please" ikke findes direkte i deres
eget sprog.
Manglen på ordet ”please” i
det danske sprog er en stor ulempe, synes jeg !!!!
16:00 Lois og jeg slapper af med en kop te på sofaen.
English translation
18:00 We have dinner and
afterwards I look out of our dining room's window and I see the supermoon peek
out from behind the clouds and the trees' leaves to the east. We hurry out into
the front yard to look at it. I try to take a souvenir photo, but my smartphone
is not one of the best, and my camera is rubbish - my god, my equipment has
disappointed me again, no doubt about it !!!
This is the moon we have been
waiting 68 years for, but Lois and I agree that the moon in 1948 was bigger
when we were little tots sitting on our mothers' knees! Oh, the good old days!
"At Last The 1948 Moon !!!" (copyright John Cleese) - hurrah!"
"At Last the 1948 Moon!", but the
supermoon is unfortunately
much more impressive in reality, than in
this photo, I'm sure of that ! Damn!
We come back inside and spend the
rest of the evening watching TV. They show University Challenge and Only
Connect, two TV quizzes, and two of the few television programs that are not
suitable for very stupid people tee hee.
We see these two programs every
Monday. But as far as Only Connect is concerned, there is tonight something a
little different than usual. Victoria Coren Mitchell, the program's charming
host, talks "privately" with viewers before the quiz starts: an
apology in advance, but also a challenge - there is an error in tonight's quiz,
and she challenges us to spot it - my goodness, Lois and I suddenly become "turned on", no doubt about it!
The program's host, the charming Victoria
Coren Mitchell,
challenges viewers to spot a small error in
the evening's program - my goodness!
Lois and I suddenly become "turned on" - no
doubt about it !!!
When the mistake actually occurs,
Lois unfortunately does not notice, and I'm starting to doze a little - zzzzz!
Damn! I hope we do not have to wait another 68 years for the next error - I
know that for sure!
The error is surprising: the
issue is about finding a connection between 4 photos, Brendan Rodgers (football
manager), Venus Williams (the famous tennis player), a bunch of steel rods, and
Mark Owen (pop singer, member of "Take That").
The answer is (according to the
program host) that these four images represent the four politicians, the so-called "Gang of Four", that launched a new political party in
1981, "SDP", the Social Democratic Party. The "Gang of
Four" are named as Bill Rodgers, Shirley Williams, David Steel and David
Owen.
The third images depicts a pile
of steel rods to represent David Steel, the liberal party leader, but actually
it was Roy Jenkins and not David Steel, who was one of the four politicians. Oh
no, what a blunder !!! Embarrassing !!!
the program's embarrassing blunder - my
god!
Embarrassing but also very exciting. I hope
we do not have to wait
another 68 years to see the next one !!!!
22:00 We go to bed in a state of
excitement (two unusual events in one evening!) but we soon drift off to sleep
- zzzzz !!!!
04:30 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 and crawl back into our
bed. We drink the tea and then go in the shower. We get up and eat breakfast.
10:00 My friend, "Magyar
Mike" comes and we learn Hungarian for an hour. He tells me about his
grandson, Stephen, currently spending an academic year in Prague. He spends the
weekends visiting nearby capitals and major cities by bus - last week it was
Vienna, Krakow next week, and then maybe Budapest. Student years are the best
time to travel and see the world - no doubt about it!
11:00 Mike has to go. Lois and I
go out in the backyard, weed a little and clear up. The garbage truck and
recycling wagon come early in the morning and the collection will begin at 7am
so I have to ensure that trashcan and garden waste bin are both filled to
capacity - tee hee! Poor men !!!!!
12:00 I call Thomas Cook, who run
a travel agency in the middle of the town, and I order £ 100 in Danish kroner.
There is no need to take large amounts of cash when we fly over, because you
can use credit cards in most stores and so on. Even when you buy something very
very cheap, you can easily use a credit or debit card, for example, on the
plane when we ask for a cup of coffee and so on. In fact, the airline's flight
attendants are not very fond of handling cash, and they look grumpy for a
moment - my god, what a crazy world we live in!
We will pick up our travel money
tomorrow, when we are in town to buy some Christmas presents for our
grandchildren in Australia. We are considering buying them soft cover
children's books - they are lightweight - also arts and crafts material because
Lily and Jessica are very much into drawings, paintings and the like.
13:00 We eat lunch and then I go
to bed and take a giant nap - zzzzzz !!!!
15:00 I get up and take a look on
the web. I see that the Danes are the second best in the world (the Dutch top
the list - my god!) at speaking English, not counting people having English as
their mother tongue, according to the annual ranking of English skills in 72
countries.
I'm surprised to hear that the Danes are
not so good
at speaking English as the Dutch - oh dear!
It seems that Lois and I had
better speak English all the time we are in Denmark at Christmas to give the
Danes more practice - my god, what madness !!!
It is apparently a huge "classic" for many Danes to have a large passive vocabulary. They are good at
listening, reading and understanding. And they are of course also hugely
exposed to English in school life, through film and television, according to
Stina Lema.
Some Danes have trouble
remembering to add an 's' in the third person: I like to run - he likes to run.
They are good at asking polite questions. But pure courtesy is a thing they are
not good at. This is perhaps also about the fact that the word "please"
does not exist directly in their own language.
The absence of the word "please" in the
Danish language is a major drawback, I think !!!!
16:00 Lois and I relax with a cup
of tea on the sofa.
No comments:
Post a Comment