18:00 Vi spiser aftensmad og bruger resten af aftenen på at se lidt
fjernsyn. Vi glæder os altid meget til mandag aftenens programmer, fordi 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.
20:00 De viser University Challenge. I aften er de unges tur (Warwick
Universitets hold: gennemsnitlige alder 20) til at nedsable de gamle krager (East
London Universitets hold: gennemsnitlige alder 41).
Uha! Lois og jeg venter på, at se om der igen er et spørgsmål, der drejer sig om Danmark
eller det danske sprog. Vi er ikke nødt til at vente længe.
Desværre har de to hold ikke den fjerneste anelse om, hvad er det rigtige
svar. East London gætter ”tysk” og Warwick gætter ”finsk”. Du godeste! Hvad
sker der med den britiske uddannelsessystem nu til dags??? For helvede, hvad
betaler vi vores skat for ???!!!!!
20:30 Vi fortsætter med at se lidt fjernsyn. De viser Only Connect.
Det første hold (The Shutterbugs) viser fra starten en masse selvtillid,
men det andet hold (The Korfballers) føler sig nervøs før quizzen begynder, men
ved slutningen af programmet, finder vi ud af, at det er det pessimistiske hold,
der har vundet snævert. Hurra – kraften af negativ tænkning triumferer igen!
21:30 Vi fortsætter med at se lidt fjernsyn. De viser en interessant
dokumentarfilm, der angiveligt eller overfladisk handler om tricks restaurationsbranchen
bruger, men som faktisk er en general dokumentarfilm om forskellige aspekter af
maden, man spiser på restauranter. Programmets vært er den charmerende Kate
Quilton.
Kate undersøger sushi-restauranter og finder ud af, at de fleste af disse
restauranter i Storbritannien serverer en anderledes stil af sushi fra den ægte
japanske forretninger. Det ser ud til, at briterne godt kan lide at spise en
masse ris til deres sushi-portioner, og de også drukner maden i masser af sojasovs.
Det hele bliver til meget fed og usund mad. Du godeste, sikke et vanvid! Japanerne
undgår at bruge for meget sojasovs, og de spiser kun en lille portion ris til
maden.
Sushi er meget populær og på mode i Storbritannien for tiden. Jeg boede i
Japan i et år, da jeg var studerende, men hele tiden nåede jeg aldrig at komme
til at synes om sushi, men Lois elsker den, og hun prøver altid at overtale mig
at komme med til en eller anden sushi-restaurant. Hidtil har jeg modstået
hendes lokketoner, men det er kun et spørgsmål af tid, synes jeg. Du godeste!
Kate finder så ud af, at traditionel engelsk kost smager lige så godt i
billige restauranter, som i dyre restauranter, selvom mange kunder tror
anderledes – de er tilsyneladende forført af de pæne bordduge og bestik. Du
godeste, sikke en skør verden vi lever i !!!!
22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzz!!!!7
05:00 Jeg står tidligt op og laver én af mine rutinemæssige danske
ordforrådtester. Bagefter laver jeg to kopper te og bringer dem op på vores
soveværelse. Jeg kryber tilbage i vores seng og vi drikker teen. Vi går i bad,
og bagefter spiser morgenmad.
10:00 Min ven ”Magyar” Mike kommer og vi lærer ungarsk i en time. Vi
besluttede for et par dage siden at udveksle igen de seneste ordforrådtester,
vi gav hinanden sidste uge. Mike fik så meget dårlige karakterer i sidste uges
test, og han sagde, han ønsker at afprøve testen igen, opnå bedre karakterer og
udslette dermed de smerterne, han følte – du godeste! Han er så
samvittighedsfuld – det har jeg ikke nogen tvivl om !!!!
11:00 Mike skal af sted. Lois og jeg går en kort tur i nabolaget (0,7
miles), men det regner så kraftigt og det er så koldt, at vi giver op turen, Vi
smutter ind i det lokale bibliotek og købe en bog, der handler om landsbyens
historie, som julegave til Lois’s veninde, Rose, og så kigger vi ind i den
lokale nærbutik (Burgage Stores) for at købe et brød og et par andre ting.
Vi skynder os hjem igen for at varme os med en ekstra stærk kop kaffe –
hurra! Cleeve Hill-bakken er næsten helt dækket af lave skyer. Du godeste, verden
er ved at ende – ingen tvivl om det!!! Hjælp! Men vi mindes om det berømte uddrag fra Winnie the
Pooh: ”Hvad hvis et træ faldt ned, Pooh, da vi var under det?” (copyright
Piglet); ”Hvad hvis det ikke gjorde,” sagde Pooh efter nøje eftertanke. Og det trøstede
vi os med! Blind optimisme er vores plan fremover – hurra!
Vi går en kort tur i nabolaget, men det regner og det er så hundekoldt
at
vi beslutter at komme hjem igen og varme os lidt – uha!
13:00 Vi spiser frokost og bagefter lytter vi til radio, et program, der
handler om kraften af negativ tænkning. Programmets vært er den charmerende
Oliver Burkeman.
Vi er lidt skuffet af dette program. Dets konklusioner er temmelig
intetsigende og ikke ret overraskende. Blind optimisme er fjollet, men blind
pessimisme er også fjollet – man må planlægge for de værste udfald udover de
bedste, i sær eksempelvis hvis man er sundhed og sikkerhed officer på en
olierig (Burkeman finder én og interviewer ham, så det må være sandt!!!).
14:00 Vi går i seng i et par timer. Vi skruer vores elektriske varmetæppe
op til max – hurra!
16:30 Vi står op og slapper af med en kop te på sofaen.
English translation
18:00 We have dinner and spend
the rest of the evening watching TV. We always look forward very much to Monday
evening's programs because 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.
20:00 They show University
Challenge. Tonight is the young ones' turn (Warwick University team, average
age 20) to saber the old crows (East London University team, average age 41).
Ooh dear! Lois and I are waiting
to see if there is again a question on Denmark or the Danish language. We do
not have to wait long.
Unfortunately, the two teams have
not got the faintest idea what is the right answer. East London guess
"German" and Warwick guess "Finnish". My God! What is
happening with the British education system nowadays ??? The hell, what do we
pay our taxes for ??? !!!!!
20:30 We continue to watch TV.
They show Only Connect.
The first team (The Shutterbugs)
show a lot of confidence from the beginning, but the other team (The
Korfballers) feel nervous before the quiz starts, but at the end of the
program, we find out that it is the pessimistic team that has won narrowly. Hurrah
- the power of negative thinking triumphs again!
21:30 We continue to watch TV.
They show an interesting documentary that is allegedly or superficially about
tricks the hospitality industry uses, but which is actually a general
documentary on various aspects of the food we eat in restaurants. The program's
host is the charming Kate Quilton.
Kate investigates sushi
restaurants and finds out that most of these restaurants in the UK offer a
different style of sushi from the real Japanese businesses. It seems that the
British like to eat a lot of rice with their sushi portions, and they also
drown the food in lots of soy sauce. It all becomes very fat and unhealthy
food. My God, what madness! The Japanese avoid using too much soy sauce, and
eat only a small portion of rice with the meal.
Sushi is very popular and
fashionable in Britain at the moment. I lived in Japan for a year when I was a
student, but all the time I never managed to get a liking for sushi, but Lois
loves it, and she is always trying to persuade me to come with her to some
sushi restaurant. So far, I have resisted her blandishments, but it is only a
matter of time, I think. My God!
Kate then finds out of that
traditional English food tastes just as good in cheap restaurants as in expensive
restaurants, though many customers think differently - they are apparently
seduced by the nice tablecloths and cutlery. My goodness, what a crazy world we
live in !!!!
22:00 We go to bed - zzzzz !!!!
05:00 I get up early and do one
of my routine Danish vocabulary tests. Afterwards, I make two cups of tea and
bring them up to our bedroom. I creep back in our bed and we drink the tea. We
take a shower and afterwards eat breakfast.
10:00 My friend "Magyar"
Mike comes and we learn Hungarian for an hour. We decided a few days ago to
exchange again the latest vocabulary tests we gave each other last week. Mike
got such bad grades in last week's test, and he said he wants to try the test
again, achieve better grades and hence wipe out the pain he felt - my god! He
is so conscientious - I have no doubts about that !!!!
11:00 Mike has to go. Lois and I
go for a short walk in the neighborhood (0.7 miles), but it is raining so
heavily and it is so cold that we give up the walk, we pop into the local
library and buy a book about the village's history as a Christmas gift for
Lois's friend, Rose, and we look into the local convenience store (Burgage
Stores) to buy a loaf of bread and a few other things.
We rush back home to warm
ourselves up with an extra strong cup of coffee - hooray! Cleeve Hill is almost
entirely covered by low clouds. My goodness, the world is about to end - no
doubt about it !!! Help! But we are reminded of the famous excerpt from Winnie
the Pooh: "What if a tree fell down, Pooh, when we were under it?"
"What if it did not," said Pooh after careful thought. And we
comforted ourselves with that! Blind optimism is our plan now - hurrah!
We go for a short walk in the
neighborhood, but it is raining and it's so freezing cold
we decide to come back home and warm
ourselves up a little - oh dear!
13:00 We eat lunch and afterwards
we listen to the radio, a program about the power of negative thinking. The
program's host is the charming Oliver Burkeman.
We are a little disappointed by
this program. Its conclusions are pretty bland and not very surprising. Blind
optimism is silly, but blind pessimism is also silly - you must plan for the
worst outcome in addition to the best, particularly for example if you are a
health and safety officer on a oil rig (Burkeman finds one and interviews him,
so it must be true!!!).
14:00 We go to bed for a few
hours. We turn our electric blanket up to the max - hurrah!
16:30 We get up and relax with a
cup of tea on the sofa.
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