17:00 Jeg sætter mig foran computeren og udarbejder en ungarsk
ordforrådtest til min ven, ”Magyar”
Mike, der kommer i morgen formiddag kl 10 for at lære ungarsk med mig,
som sædvanligt om tirsdagen. Vi mødtes ikke sidste tirsdag – Mikes kone,
”Magyar” Mary, fik fjernet en kræftknude i ansigtet for en uge siden, og lægen
beordrede hende at hvile sig i nogle dage efter operationen. Mike fortalte mig,
at Mary skulle smutte ind på sygehuset igen i dag for at få fjernet stingene.
18:00 Lois og jeg spiser aftensmad og bruger resten af aftenen på at se
lidt fjernsyn og lytte til radio. De viser en underholdende tv-quiz,
”University Challenge”, og i aften holder quizzen dens finale, som Lois og jeg
hele ugen har glædet os til at se.
Der er 4-5 spørgsmål, som vi svarer rigtigt på, og begge hold ikke gør, så
vi føler os tilfredse – hurra!
Lois har fortalt mig, at Wolfsons kanadiske kaptajn, Eric Monkman, er
blevet en usandsynlig sex-symbol blandt showets kvindelige seere. Aviserne
taler om såkaldte ”Monkmania”.
Men i aften synes vi, at ”The Monk” har tendens til at gå lidt i panik og
svare for hurtigt uden at tænke forsigtigt over det, for eksempel, da
programmets vært, den charmerende Jeremy Paxman (”Paxo”), spørger holdene,
hvilken by jernkronen (den langobardiske
kongekrone) har til huse i:
Du godeste, stakkels Monkman!!!!!
Ved slutningen af programmet, ser vi ”Paxo” og begge hold rejse til
Cambridge for at besøge Stephen Hawking, den berømte fysiker, der uddeler
prisen, quizzens pokal. Lois og jeg mistænker, at denne sekvens faktisk blev
skudt før quizzen fandt sted, og at BBC2-kanalen filmede to alternative
sekvenser, den ene, hvor Wolfson blev proklameret som vindere, og den anden,
hvor det var Balliol. Heldigvis vælger kanalen den rigtige filmsekvens, da
selve quizzen bliver sendt – i aften er der ikke nogen
”Oscaruddeling-fiasko", gudskelov!!!!
Stephen Hawking uddeler pokalen
Det er lidt af en skam, synes vi, at ”Paxo” skjuler for det vindende
Balliol-hold, så det ser ud som om Wolfson har vundet. Måske nægtede Hawking at
konfrontere muligheden, at et Oxford kollegium kunne vinde quizzen. Han
har et ry for at være en dårlig taber på
Big Bang Theory, når Sheldon slår ham i scrabble, for eksempel. Det er i det
mindste en interessant teori, synes vi !!!!
22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzz!!!!!!
04:30 Jeg står tidligt op og laver én af mine rutinemæssige danske
ordforrådtest.
07:45 Jeg trisser ind i køkkenet og laver to kopper te. Jeg tager dem med
op i soveværelset og hopper op i sengen til Lois. Vi drikker teen og går i bad.
Vi står op og spiser morgenmad.
10:00 Min ven, ”Magyar” Mike kommer, og vi lærer ungarsk i en time. Desværre
har Mike glemt en masse ungarske ord på det sidste år – du godeste!! Jeg synes,
at vores ugentlige time er den eneste intellektuelle stimulering, han får –
stakkels Mike!!!
Den lærebog, vi bruger i år, er lidt gammeldags – den blev udgivet i
1960’erne. Lektion 10 handler om ungarske elever på en højskole. Selvfølgelig
bruger de ikke nogle computere, og det er et stort stort problem, da István
ikke kan finde sin røde blyant – sikke et vanvid!!!
István har et udfordrende ugentligt skema
-
det har jeg ikke nogen tvivl om !!!!!
István har en meget god ven, der hedder Sándor og i denne lektion Sándor
møder Istváns søster, Érzsébet, for første gang, og det er kærlighed ved første
blik. Sándor falder for hende med det
samme og bliver betaget med hende, men Érzsébet beslutter at spille hard to get
– stakkels Sándor!!!!!
Såndor møder Istváns søster, Érzsébet, for første gange
- wow, kærlighed ved første blik!!!!
Men
Érzsébet spiller hard to get i sin smarte spadseredragt –
jeg
formoder, at hun har ambitioner. Måske vil hun være en
kommende
kommunistpartileder!!!!
Mike fortæller mig lidt om den ferie, han for 2 uger siden holdt sammen med
Mary, sin kone, i Prag, hvor de besøgte deres barnebarn, Stephen, og så mange
af byens seværdigheder.
Mike, Stephen og Mary på en bakke
lige
udenfor byen Prag
Stephen og Mary på floden Moldau (Vitava)
Mike og Mary i nærheden af floden Moldau (Vitava)
11:00 Mike skal af sted og Lois og jeg slapper af med en kop kaffe i
sofaen.
12:00 Vi taler lidt på Skype med vores datter Alison i København og med vores
3 børnebørn, Josie (10), Rosalind (8) og Isaac (6). Det er meget sjovt at
snakke med dem om deres liv i Danmark.
vi taler lidt med vores datter Alison i København,
og
med vores 3 børnebørn, der for tiden har påskeferie
I morgen rejser familien til Jylland. De vil bo i et sommerhus i nærheden
af Aalborg. I juli holder de 3 uges ferie i England, og derefter 1 uges ferie i
Holland. De bor i en uge hos Eds forældre i Bournemouth og hos deres gode
venner, familien Andersen, i grevskabet Hampshire. Derefter kommer de hos os i
en uge, og derefter holder de en uges ferie i grevskabet Norfolk, hvor de vil
bo på en husbåd – du godeste, hvor spændende!
13:00 Vi spiser frokost og bagefter går jeg i seng for at tage mig en kort
eftermiddagslur.
14:30 Jeg står op og rydder lidt i Alisons gamle værelse og i spisekammeret
ved siden af køkkenet. Vi har et mistænkt fugtproblem og jeg ringede til
Rentokil et par uger siden – og nogen kommer i morgen kl 9:30 for at undersøge
problemet.
15:00 Jeg går ud i baghaven og luger lidt mellem frugtbuskene. Du godeste!
Livet er hårdt nogen tider – det ved jeg med sikkerhed!!!!
16:00 Jeg blader igennem endnu et par sider af Gunnlaugs Saga, som Scillas
U3A oldnorske gruppe for tiden læser. Tingene sker – hurra!
Den nu 18-årige Gunnlaug er i 6 år blevet forlovet med Islands smukkeste pige,
Helga, men Helgas far foragter ham. Det er heldigt, at Helga ikke er gravid
efter 6 år – det er der ikke nogen tvivl om !!!!
Gunnlaug og Helga, Islands smukkeste pige
Til sidst mødes Gunnlaugs far og Helgas far, og de går i gang med at
arrangere parrets fremtid sammen (uden at konsultere Helga, kan jeg ikke undgå
at bemærke – du godeste!!!!). Helgas far
aftaler, at Gunnlaug kan gifte sig med hans datter, så længe han kommer
indenfor 3 år tilbage fra udlandet, hvilket er fair nok, synes jeg!
Sagaens forfatter omtaler ikke Helga (siger Gunnlaug farvel???), da
Gunnlaug sejler af sted til Norge (hvor han snart irriterer Erik, den norske
kong), og så til England, hvor han mødes med Kong Ethelred 2, og fremsiger et
par digte foran kongen. Sagaens forfatter kommenterer, at det engelske sprog og
det oldnorske sprog dengang begge var det samme.
Gunnlaug irriterer snart kong Erik af Norge – uha!
Den engelske konge forærer Gunnlaug en flot kåbe som belønning. Gunnlaug
bliver senere desværre overfaldet af en sørøver på en gade i London – du
godeste, endda for 1000 år siden var London ikke et sikkert sted at gå i!!! De
to mænd kæmper en duel til døden – men det er sørøveren, der dør, fordi kongen
har givet Gunnlaug ét af sine bedste sværd – det var heldigt!!!!
Gunnlaug bliver overfaldet af en sørøver i London –
du
godeste, sikke en redelighed!!!!
English translation
17:00 I sit at the computer and
draw up a Hungarian vocabulary test for my friend, "Magyar" Mike, who
is coming tomorrow morning at 10 to learn Hungarian with me as usual on
Tuesday. We did not meet last Tuesday - Mike's wife, "Magyar" Mary,
had a cancerous growth on her face removed a week ago, and the doctor ordered
her to rest for a few days after the surgery. Mike told me that Mary would be
popping into the hospital again today to have the stitches taken out.
18:00 Lois and I eat dinner and
spend the rest of the evening watching TV and listening to radio. They show an
entertaining TV quiz, "University Challenge", and tonight the quiz is
holding its final, which Lois and I have been looking forward to seeing all
week.
There are 4-5 questions that we
answer correctly, that the teams do not, so we feel satisfied - hurrah!
Lois has told me that Wolfson's
Canadian captain, Eric Monkman, has become an unlikely sex symbol among the
show's female viewers. The newspapers are talking about so-called
"Monkmania".
But tonight we think that "The Monk" tends to
panic a bit and respond too quickly without thinking too carefully about it,
for example, when the program's host, the charming Jeremy ("Paxo") Paxman,
asks the teams which city the iron crown of Lombardy is housed in:
My goodness, poor Monkman !!!!!
At the end of the program, we see
"Paxo" and both teams travel to Cambridge to visit Stephen Hawking,
the famous physicist who awards the prize, the quiz trophy. Lois and I suspect
that this sequence was actually shot before the quiz took place and that the
BBC2 channel filmed two alternative sequences, the one in which Wolfson were
proclaimed as winners, and the other where it was Balliol. Tonight, fortunately,
the channel chooses the right film-sequence when the quiz is aired – i.e. tonight
there is no "Academy Awards style-fiasco", thank goodness !!!!
Stephen Hawking presents the trophy
It's a bit of a shame, we think,
that "Paxo" is hiding the winning Balliol team, so it looks like
Wolfson has won. Perhaps Hawking refused to confront the possibility that an Oxford
college might win the quiz. He has a reputation for being a sore loser on the
Big Bang when Sheldon beats him at Scrabble, for example. It's at least an
interesting theory, we think !!!!
22:00 We go to bed - zzzzz !!!!!!
04:30 I get up early and do one
of my routine Danish vocabulary tests.
07:45 I toddle into the kitchen
and make two cups of tea. I take them up to the bedroom and hop into bed with
Lois. We drink the tea and take a shower. We get up and eat breakfast.
10:00 My friend,
"Magyar" Mike comes and we study Hungarian for an hour. Unfortunately
Mike has forgotten a lot of Hungarian words in the last year - my goodness !! I
think our weekly lessons are the only intellectual stimulation he gets - poor
Mike !!!
The textbook we are using this
year is a little dated - it was published in the 1960s. Lesson 10 is about
Hungarian students at a high school. Of course they do not use any computers,
and it is a big big problem when István cannot find his red pencil - what
madness !!!
István has a challenging weekly
timetable -
I have no doubts about that !!!!!
István has a very good friend
called Sándor and in this lesson Sándor meets Istvan's sister, Erzsebet, for
the first time, and it is love at first sight. Sándor falls for her immediately
and becomes infatuated with her, but Erzsebet decides to play hard to get -
poor Sándor !!!!!
Såndor meets Istvan's sister,
Erzsebet, for the first time-
wow, love at first sight !!!! But Erzsebet
plays hard to get in her
fancy two piece suit – I suspect that
she has ambitions.
Maybe she'll be a future Communist Party
leader !!!!
Mike tells me a little about the
holiday he had two weeks ago with Mary, his wife, in Prague, where they visited
their grandson, Stephen, and saw many of the city's sights.
Mike, Stephen and Mary
on a hill
just outside the city of Prague
Stephen and Mary on the
river Moldau (Vitava)
Mike and Mary near the
river Moldau (Vitava)
11:00 Mike has to go, and Lois
and I relax with a cup of coffee on the sofa.
12:00 We talk a little on Skype
with our daughter Alison in Copenhagen and with our three grandchildren, Josie
(10), Rosalind (8) and Isaac (6). It is a lot of fun to talk to them about
their lives in Denmark.
we talk a little with our daughter
Alison in Copenhagen,
and with our three grandchildren who are
currently on Easter holidays
Tomorrow, the family travel to
Jutland. They will stay in a cottage near Aalborg. In July, they are having a
3-week vacation in England, and then one week's holiday in Holland. They will
stay for a week with Ed's parents in Bournemouth and with their good friends,
the family Andersen, in Hampshire. Then they come to us for a week, and then
have a one-week vacation in Norfolk, where they will stay on a houseboat - my
goodness, how exciting!
13:00 We have lunch and
afterwards I go to bed and take a short afternoon nap.
14:30 I get up and clear up in
Alison's old room and in the pantry next to the kitchen. We have a suspected
damp problem and I called Rentokil a few weeks ago - and someone is coming
tomorrow at 9:30 am to investigate the problem.
15:00 I go out in the backyard
and do a bit of weeding between fruit bushes. My Goodness! Life is hard
sometimes - I know that for sure !!!!
16:00 I flip through a few pages
of Gunnlaug's Saga, which Scilla's U3A Old Norse group is currently reading.
Things are happening - hurrah! Six years ago the now 18-year-old Gunnlaug got
engaged to Iceland's most beautiful girl, Helga, but Helga's father despises
him.
It is fortunate that Helga is not
pregnant after six years - there is no doubt about that!!!!
Gunnlaug and Helga, Iceland's
most beautiful girl
Eventually Gunnlaug's father and
Helga's father meet up, and together get on with arranging the couple's future (without
consulting Helga, I cannot help noticing - my goodness !!!!). Helga's father
agrees that Gunnlaug can marry his daughter, as long as he comes back from
abroad within 3 years, which is fair enough, I think!
The saga's author does not
mention Helga (does Gunnlaug even say goodbye ???), when Gunnlaug sails off to
Norway (where he soon annoys Erik, the Norwegian king), and thence to England,
where he meets with King Ethelred II, and recites a few poems in front of the
king. The saga's author comments that the English language and the Old Norse
language back then were both the same.
Gunnlaug quickly irritates
King Erik of Norway – oh dear!
The English king gives Gunnlaug a splendid robe as a reward. Gunnlaug is later
unfortunately mugged by a pirate on a London street – my goodness, even 1000
years ago, London was not a safe place to walk !!! The two men fight a duel to
the death – but it’s the pirate who dies because the king has given Gunnlaug
one of his best swords – that was lucky !!!!
Gunnlaug gets mugged by a pirate in
London –
Good grief, such goings-on!
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