17:00 Vi er udmattede, som altid ved slutningen af en ”dansk” dag, hvor vi
gjorde huset rent og forberede os på vores U3A danske gruppes regelmæssige møde
(der finder sted hver 2. torsdag kl 14:30 til 16:00), og så styrede mødet i 90
minutter.
Vores veninde, Marie-Ann, har fortalt os, at hun og Alf vil bringe os kl 18
et meget elsket bord (faktisk et arvestykke!), som de vil have os til at
opbevare i vores garage, mens byggere arbejder på et tilbygningsprojekt i deres
hus – du godeste! Marie-Ann og Alf er velkendte som mennesker, der altid
ankommer sent, eller i det mindste senere, end annonceret – uha! Vi beslutter
at spise aftensmad tidligere, end normalt, så de ikke forstyrrer vores intime
spisevaner ha ha ha!!!
Vi spiser aftensmad kl 17:30, og, som forudsagt, kommer Marie-Ann og Alf
meget sent (kl 19) – du godeste – og de rykker deres meget elskede bord ind i
vores garage – hvor Lois og jeg allerede opbevarer mange mange ting og møbler,
som vores yngste datter, Sarah, og Francis, hendes mand, efterlod hos os, da de
for ét år siden flyttede til Australien – uha! Garagen er blevet til et stort
rod, ingen tvivl om det!!!
19:30 Lois og jeg er meget meget trætte. Vi bruger aftenen på at se lidt
fjernsyn. De viser et gamle afsnit af Top of the Pops fra september 1982.
Programmets vært er den betænksom DJ, John Peel.
Lois og jeg så ikke dette afsnit, da BBC-kanalen oprindeligt udsendte det i
september 1982. Vi var lige flyttet til USA, hvor vi boede til 1985. For en
gangs skyld er musikken meget bedre, end i de 2 gamle afsnit fra september 1982,
som vi så sidste uge. Boy George og Culture Club optrådte for første gang med
deres ikoniske sang, ”Do You Really Want To Hurt Me”.
Programmets
vært, den betænksomme DJ, John Peel,
præsentere
den dengang ukendte sanger, Boy George for os.
Bemærk
i baggrunden de lækre ”Princess Di”-stil frisurer,
som
alle de unge kvinder dengang havde!!!
Lykkelige
dage!!!!
Boy George optræder for første gang –
hans
eksotiske udseende stemmer overhovedet ikke
med
hans fantastiske stemme – ingen tvivl om det!!!
Efter vi flyttede til USA, så vi mange britiske sangere for første gang -
for det meste så vi dem på den amerikanske MTV-kanal. Vi var overrasket, da vi
derovre for første gang så Boy George. Hans eksotiske udseende stemmede ikke
overens med hans fantastiske stemme – ingen tvivl om det!!!! Senere fandt jeg
ud af, at han faktisk var Julians bror – Julian var en tidligere
arbejdskollega.
20:00 Vi fortsætter med at se lidt fjernsyn. De viser en interessant
dokumentarfilm, der handler om historien af radio- og tv-quizzer, der nu til
dags er så populære.
Et interessant program, med uddrag fra de mest elsket tv-quizzer gennem årene.
Men jeg ville hellere høre mere om, hvordan de mest berømte professionelle ”quiz-champions”,
som for eksempel BBC2-kanalens ”Eggheads” quizhold når at vedligeholde til
daglig deres viden af quiz-trivia.
I gamle dage var spørgsmålene meget mere akademiske, og drejede sig om de
slags kendsgerninger, man lærte på skolen. I dag er mange spørgsmål baseret på
populær kultur, for eksempel populære film, popmusik osv, sport også.
Professionelle quiz-champions er ofte midaldrende (eller ældre) mennesker, men
de er nødt til at opdatere konstant deres viden om de seneste film, popsange,
idrætsmænd osv. Er dette ikke lidt kedeligt????? Men jeg formoder, at dette er
deres levebrød. Det er et hundeliv at være en professionel quiz-champion – det
har jeg ikke nogen tvivl om. De kan aldrig slapper af. Stakkels
quiz-champions!!!!!
22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzzz!!!!!
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 står op. Vi spiser morgenmad.
09:00 Jeg går i gang med at læse igen de første
169 linjer af ”Uglen og Nattergalen”, et langt digt skrevet for ca. 800 år
siden på middelengelsk af Nicholas af Guildford, en præst, der arbejdede i
grevskabet Dorset. Digtet er et godt eksempel af en middelengelsk dialekt, der for
det meste ikke viste indflydelsen af det danske sprog. Mennesker der boede
dengang i det sydlige England mødte sjældent danskere, og deres sprog var mere nedertysk,
end nordisk. De danske indvandrere boede for det meste i det østlige England –
det var en lige rejse fra Danmark over Nordsøen til Englands østlige kyst – og de
var ikke nødt til at flytte for langt
væk fra østkysten.
Jeg føler, jeg må
lære godt dette digt at kende, fordi Lyndas U3A ”Making of English” gruppe
holder sit månedlige møde i dag kl 14:30 i byens Everyman-teater, og Lynda har bedt
mig om at styre mødet i hendes fravær. Pokkers! Det betyder, at jeg styrer to
U3A møder 2 på hinanden følgende dage – pokkers (igen) !!!
12:30 Vi spiser
frokost og bagefter går jeg i seng og tager mig en kort eftermiddagslur –
zzzzzz!!
13:30 Jeg står op. Vi skal af sted.
Lois skal til det lokale bibliotek for at hjælpe bibliotekets personale med
at organisere og lede den ugentlige ”Baby Bounce and Rhyme” session for unge
mødre og deres små børn. Aktiviterne består af barnesange
for babys og forældre (og bedsteforældre). Da vores anden datter, Sarah,
stadigvæk boede og arbejdede i England, plejede Lois og jeg at tage Sarahs
tvillinger med til sessioner – lykkelige dage!
Jeg skal ind i byen for at styre
Lyndas U3A ”Making of English” møde på Everyman-teatret. Mødet går godt og vi
har det meget sjovt. Margaret, Joe, Anthony, Barb skiftes til at læse ca. 25
linjer af ”Uglen og Nattergalen”, oversætte den til moderne engelsk, og
kommentere interessepunkter. Jeg finder, at de giver mig lærer-rollen. Det er
trist, men jeg ved så meget mere om det engelske sprogs historie , end de andre
– det har jeg ikke nogen tvivl om!!!
Tiden flyver, når man har det
sjovt – det ved jeg med sikkerhed. Uret slår 16, og Joy og jeg har ikke haft
chancen til at læse og kommentere vores linjer. Vi skal nok lige vente til det
næste møde i januar.
16:00 Jeg kører hjem og Lois og
jeg slapper af med en kop te på sofaen. Vi er udmattede – det ved jeg med
sikkerhed!!! Stakkels os !!!!!!
English translation
17:00 We are exhausted, as always
at the end of a "Danish" day where we cleaned the house and prepared
for our U3A Danish group's
regular meeting (which takes place every second Thursday from 2.30pm to 4pm) and
then ran the meeting for 90 minutes.
Our friend, Marie-Ann, told us
that at 6pm she and Alf want to bring us a much-loved table (actually an
heirloom) that they want us to keep in our garage, while builders work on an
extension project in their house - my god! Marie-Ann and Alf are well known as
people who always arrive late, or at least later than advertised - oh dear! We
decide to eat dinner earlier than usual so they do not disturb our intimate
eating habits ha ha ha!
We eat dinner at 5.30pm, and, as
predicted, Marie-Ann and Alf come very late (at 7pm) - my god - and they move
their much-loved table into our garage - where Lois and I are already keeping
many many things and furniture which our youngest daughter, Sarah, and Francis,
her husband, left with us, when they moved to Australia a year ago - oh dear!
The garage has turned into a big mess, no doubt about it !!!
19:30 Lois and I are very very
tired. We spend the evening watching a little television. They show an old
episode of Top of the Pops from September 1982. The program's host is the
thoughtful DJ, John Peel.
Lois and I did not see this
episode when the BBC channel initially broadcast it in September 1982. We had
just moved to the United States, where we lived until 1985. For once, the music
is much better than in the 2 old episodes from September 1982 that we saw last
week. Boy George and Culture Club appeared for the first time with their iconic
song, "Do You Really Want To Hurt Me".
The program's host, the thoughtful DJ, John
Peel,
presents the then unknown singer Boy George
for us.
Note in the background the delicious
"Princess Di" -style hairstyles
which all the young women had back then !!!
Happy days !!!!
Boy George performs for the first time -
his exotic appearance does not go at all
with his amazing voice - no doubt about it
!!!
After we moved to the United
States, we saw many British singers for the first time - for the most part we
saw them on the US MTV channel. We were surprised when we saw Boy George over
there for the first time. His exotic appearance was not consistent with his
amazing voice - no doubt about it !!!! Later I found out that he was actually
Julian's brother - Julian was a former workmate.
20:00 We continue to watch TV.
They show an interesting documentary about the history of radio and television
quizzes, which are nowadays so popular.
An interesting program, with
excerpts from the most beloved TV quizzes through the years. But I would rather
hear more about how the most famous professional "quiz champions"
such as the BBC2 channel's "Eggheads" quiz team manage to maintain
their knowledge of quiz-trivia on a daily basis.
In the old days the questions
were much more academic, and were about the kind of facts you learned in
school. Today many questions are based on popular culture, for example, popular
movies, pop music and so on, also sport. Professional quiz champions are often
middle-aged (or older) people, but they have to constantly update their
knowledge of recent movies, pop songs, sportsmen etc.. Is this is not a little
boring ????? But I suppose that this is their livelihood. It's a dog's life to be
a professional quiz champion - I have no doubts about that. They can never
relax. Poor quiz champions !!!!!
22:00 We go to bed – zzzzzz!!!!!
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 get up. We eat breakfast.
09:00 I begin to read again the
first 169 lines of "Owl and the Nightingale", a long poem written
about 800 years ago in Middle English by Nicholas of Guildford, a priest who
worked in the county of Dorset. The poem is a good example of a Middle English
dialect that mostly showed no influence from the Danish language. People who
lived in the south of England at that time rarely met Danes, and their language
was more Low German than Nordic. The Danish immigrants lived mostly in eastern
England - it was a straight journey from Denmark across the North Sea to
England's eastern coast - and they did not have to move too far away from the
East Coast.
I feel I must get to know this
poem well because Lynda's U3A "Making of English" group is holding its
monthly meeting today at 2.30pm in the town's Everyman Theatre, and Lynda has
asked me to steer the meeting in her absence. Damn! It means I am leading two
U3A meetings on 2 consecutive days - damn (again) !!!
12:30 We eat lunch and afterwards
I go to bed and take a short nap - zzzzzz !!
13:30 I get up. We have to go
out.
Lois is going to the local
library to help library staff organize and lead the weekly "Baby Bounce
and Rhyme" session for young mothers and their young children. The
activities consist of children's songs for babies and parents (and
grandparents). When our second daughter, Sarah, still lived and worked in
England, Lois and I used to take Sarah's twins to the sessions - happy days!
I go into town to lead Lynda's
U3A "Making of English" meeting at the Everyman Theatre. The meeting
goes well and we have a lot of fun. Margaret, Joe, Anthony, Barb take turns to
read about 25 lines of "Owl and the Nightingale", translate it into
modern English, and comment on interest-points. I find that they give me the
teacher's role. It's sad, but I know so much more about the English language's
history than the others do - I have no doubts about that !!!
Time flies when you're having fun
- I know that for sure. The clock strikes 4, and Joy and I have not had the
chance yet to read and comment on our lines. We'll just have to wait for the
next meeting in January.
16:00 I drive home, and Lois and
I relax with a cup of tea on the sofa. We are exhausted - I know that for sure
!!! Poor us !!!!!
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