Fredag den 12. maj 2017 kl 16:30 lørdag den 13. maj 2017 kl 16:29

17:15 Lois har ikke dukket op endnu. Hun har smuttet ind hos naboerne (Bill og Mary) for at snakke med dem om Hong Kong, hvor de boede og arbejdede for mange år siden, da Bill var i den britiske hær. Der er en chance for, at Alison, vores datter i København, flytter til Hong Kong, hvis Ed, hendes mand, får et job derovre.

Jeg hopper op på min kondicykel og jeg tilbagelægger endnu 6 miles (10km). Jeg tænder for min smartphone, klikker på YouTube, og ser på 1961s Billboard-hitliste, mens jeg cykler. Hver gang jeg hopper op på cyklen, stiller jeg året ét år tilbage. Sangene får mig til at tænke tilbage til dengang, jeg fyldte 15 år – du godeste, skete det virkelig, at jeg var på den alder?  Det er det svært at tro nu.

Tilbageblik til oktober 1961: ”People let me put you wise.

Sue goes – out with other guys” (chok horror!!!!)

Vi boede dengang i byen Bristol: mine forældre, min rødhårede søster Kathy (14), min rødhårede bror Steve (9), min lyshårede søster Gill (3) og jeg. Badebyen Weston-super-mare var ikke ret langt væk, og vi plejede at tilbringe lørdager derovre om sommeren.

Mine søstre, Kathy og Gill i vores baghave i Redland, en lille forstad til Bristol.

Kathy var stadig en smule højere, end mig, hvilket var lidt irriterende.

Jeg må have haft en lille vækstspurt de følgende 1-2 år.

Min bror Steve på Weston-stranden

Jill og jeg på Weston-stranden

17:45 Lois kommer hjem igen. Hun har snakket lidt med Bill og Mary om deres liv i Hong Kong i 1960’erne. De besøgte faktisk Hong Kong igen i 1990’erne, lige inden, vi gav den tilbage til kineserne. De siger, at der er mange gode engelsksprogede skoler i selve byen og det omkringliggende område, og der stadig er en stor engelsktalende koloni. 

Det bliver meget varmt om sommeren, som man ville forvente, men nu til dags har de fleste bygninger klimaanlæg. Det største problem er de mængder af mennesker, man altid er omgivet af, hvor som helst man tager i byen – og det tager det tid at vænne sig til. Jeg mindes, at jeg havde samme problemet, da jeg var studerende i Tokyo i 1970-71. Og alle har sort hår (sikke et vanvid!!!) – og hvis man er lyshåret, så er man virkelig iøjnefaldende – du godeste!!

Hong Kong i lykkeligere tider:

Maggie og Denis Thatcher på besøg (1984).

18:00 Lois og jeg spiser aftensmad og bruger resten af aftenen på at se lidt fjernsyn og lytter til radio. Vi ser et gamle afsnit at Toppen af Poppen fra november 1983.

Vi ser den første Toppen af Poppen præstation af Smiths, med deres forsanger Morrissey, verdens mest rørstrømske sanger – du godeste! Han var sikke et pivehoved!!!!

første Toppen af Poppen præstation nogensinde

af gruppen Smiths med deres forsanger Morrissey,

verdens mest rørstrømske sanger – du godeste!!!!

Lois og jeg så ikke dette afsnit, da det i november 1983 først blev sendt af BBC-kanalen, fordi vi var flyttet til USA i august 1982.

Jeg arbejdede dengang i en amerikanske regeringsagentur og jeg havde for vane at købe USA Today-avisen hver arbejdsdag i agenturens butik. USA Today lignede mere de slags blader, vi var vant til i Storbritannien. Vi fandt de ældre aviser såsom Baltimore Sun og Washington Post lidt kedelige og for detaljerede til vores formål -  i betragtning af, vi ikke var amerikanere.

USA Today  var perfekt til vores formål. Og hver uge kunne man se hitlister af forskellige typer, herunder ”studerendes hitliste” og jeg kan huske at jeg så ”The Smiths” flere gange i disse lister, nogle gange flere Smiths-sange i samme listen. Jeg kan huske at jeg plejede at undre mig, hvem de var.

I november 1983 havde vores to døtre, Alison (8) og Sarah (6) lige fejret deres 2. halloween i USA.

tilbageblik til 1983 - vores yngste datter Sarah (6) med

græskar i hånden foran vores hus i Columbia Md.

vores to døtre, Alison (8) og Sarah (6)

spiser en græskartærte i køkkenet af vores hus i Columbia Md USA,

sammen med Derek Walters (8), en af nabobørnene

21:00 Den sidste time inden sengetid. I går så vi en interessant tv-program, der handlede om søvnproblemer. Forskerne, vi hørte, rådede seerne til at holde op med at se på tv eller andre elektroniske skærmer i den sidste time før sengetid, fordi dette ville føre til roligere, mere tilfredsstillende og forfriskende søvn (selvom ikke nødvendigvis længere).

I stedet for at se flere tv-programmer, beslutter vi at lytte til en radio-koncert, der tilfældigvis i aften fremviser australske orkestre. Lois og jeg plejer at tilbringe aftenerne på sofaen i stuen, og hvis vi lytter til noget i radioen, hører vi den digitale version ved hjælp af vores PlusnetTV-enhed. Det betyder, at tv-skærmen stadig er tændt, så jeg behøver at dække den med en af Lois’s frakker – du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!

Koncerten ender med en opførelse af ”Waltzing Matilda” af en orkester fra Adelaide. Vi holder to vægure i stuen, den ene viser engelske tid, og den anden australske tid. Jeg kaster et hurtigt blik det australske ur (den er kl 5 om morgenen derovre), og jeg tænker på vores kære datter, Sarah, der bor i Perth sammen med sin lille familie. Deres lørdag er lige ved at starte derovre – sikke en skør verden vi lever i !!!!!

22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzzz!!!!

04:30 Jeg står tidligt op og laver én af mine rutinemæssige danske ordforrådtester.

Jeg kigger lidt på nettet og jeg ser vores datter Alisons charmerende billede af vores 3 ”danske” børnebørn sammen med Ed, vores svigersøn i Rungsted, en lille havn der ligger lidt nord for København.

Ed, vores svigersøn i Danmark, sammen med vores 3 børnebørn

i Danmark: Josie (10), Rosalind (8) og Isaac (6)

08:00 Jeg lunter ud i køkkenet og laver to kopper te. Jeg tager dem op i soveværelset. Jeg hopper op i sengen til Lois og vi drikker téen. Vi går i bad og bagefter spiser vi morgenmad.

10:00 Det ringer på døren. Det er Bob, vores nabo, en pensioneret gipser, der er kommet for at gøre arbejdet færdigt i Alisons gamle værelse. Han begyndte for nogle dage siden at sætte ny gips på væggen under vinduet, hvor vi havde et fugtproblem.

Bob er i gang med at sætte ny gips på væggen

i Alisons gamle værelse

12:30 Vi spiser frokost og bagefter skal vi af sted. Lois har aftalt at være med til en fremlæggelse, der finder sted i eftermiddag i landsbyen Down Hatherley, og hun må ikke køre bil for tiden på grund af grå stær. Fremlæggelsen er blevet organiseret af hendes kirke. Den handler om ”astronomi og biblen”, hvilket overraskede Lois, da hun først hørte om det, fordi hun troede, der ikke står meget om astronomi i biblen, bortset fra bethlehemsstjernen måske.

Down Hatherley-landsbyhus, hvor mødet finder sted.

Hun glæder sig ikke ret meget til at deltage i mødet, fordi eftermiddagens taler har et ry for at være lidt diskursiv, også samtidig at have nogle underlige idéer. Hun er lidt bekymret også over at hendes veninde, Gillian, har inviteret til mødet alle de bibelstuderende, der deltager i den serie af bibelseminarer, der finder sted hver tirsdag aften i Brockworth.

Disse bibelstuderende er ikke blevet medlemmer af kirken, og Lois er bekymret over muligheden, at taleren vil give det indtryk af, at kirkens medlemmer er lidt tossede i hovedet, og beslutter, at de ikke længere er interesseret. Du godeste!

Down Hatherley-landsbyhus i lykkeligere tider:

en typisk geriatrisk dansaften

14:30 Jeg kører hjem. Jeg har lidt alenetid, og kigger lidt på nettet. Jeg finder Morten Ingemanns seneste tegneseriestribe. Du godeste! Jeg får lidt af et chok, da jeg ser den – det har jeg ikke nogen tvivl om !!!! Og jeg bliver klar over, at jeg ikke fuldstændigt forstand på den danske psyche endnu.

Danskeren Ingemann er min yndlingstegner  – ingen tvivl om det! Han interesserer sig meget for grimme, overvægtige, midaldrende eller ældre folk, de slags mennesker, som de fleste tegnere sjældent giver opmærksomhed til.

I dag ser vi en morfar (ligesom mig!), der taler med sin barnebarn på konfirmationstiden. Drengen spørger sin morfar hvor gammel han nu er. Som en anden morfar, kan jeg mærke mandens fortvivelse. Han svarer kun, at han er i metalalderen, hvilket ikke bare er koncist, men også undgår at være præcist. Drengen bliver med det samme klar over, at manden henviser til de sædvanlige ting, dvs at han har guld i munden, nye hofter af rustfrit stål, sølv i håret og bly i røven (med andre ord, er meget langsomt). Jeg har besluttet at bruge dette meget kloge svar fremover.

At lære dansk er at lære hvordan man bør leve. Danskerne har alle svarene!!!

English translation

17:15 Lois has not yet appeared. She has popped in at the neighbours' house (Bill and Mary) to talk to them about Hong Kong, where they lived and worked many years ago when Bill was in the British army. There is a chance that Alison, our daughter in Copenhagen, will move to Hong Kong if Ed, her husband, gets a job over there.

I jump up on my exercise bike and I notch up another 6 miles (10km). I turn on my smartphone, click on YouTube, and look at the 1961 Billboard chart while I'm cycling. Every time I jump on the bike, I set the year one year back. The songs make me think back to that time when I was 15 years old - my god, did it ever really happen that I was that age? It's hard to believe now.

Flashback to October 1961: "People, let me put you wise.

Sue goes - out with other guys "(shock horror !!!!)

We lived in Bristol then: my parents, my red-headed sister Kathy (14), my red-headed brother Steve (9), my fair-haired sister Gill (3) and me. The beach resort of Weston-super-mare was not that far away and we used to spend Saturdays over there in the summer.

My sisters, Kathy and Gill in our back garden in Redland, a small suburb of Bristol

Kathy was still a little taller than me, which was a bit annoying.

I must have had a little growth spurt over the following 1-2 years.

My brother Steve on Weston Beach

Gill and I on Weston Beach

17:45 Lois comes home again. She has had a little chat with Bill and Mary about their lives in Hong Kong in the 1960s. They actually visited Hong Kong again in the 1990s, just before we gave it back to the Chinese. They say that there are many good English-speaking schools in the city itself and the surrounding area, and there is still a large English-speaking colony.

It gets very hot in the summer, as you would expect, but nowadays most buildings have air conditioning. The biggest problem is the crowds of people you are always surrounded by wherever you go - and it takes time to get used to this. I recall that I had the same problem when I was a student in Tokyo in 1970-71. And everyone has black hair (what madness !!!) - and if you are fair-haired,  then you really stand out - my goodness !!

Hong Kong in happier times:

Maggie and Denis Thatcher on a visit (1984).

18:00 Lois and I eat dinner and spend the rest of the evening watching television and listening to the radio. We see an old episode of Top of the Pops from November 1983.

We see the first ever Top of the Pops performance by The Smiths, with their singer Morrissey, the world's most unhappy singer - good grief! He was such a whinger !!!!

The first Top of the Pops performance ever

by The Smiths with their singer Morrissey,

the world's most unhappy singer - my god !!!!

Lois and I did not see tonight’s episode of Top of the Pops when it was first broadcast by the BBC channel in November 1983 because we had moved to the United States in August 1982.

I worked at a US government agency at the time and I used to buy the USA Today newspaper every business day at the agency's store. USA Today was more like the kind of papers we were used to in Britain. We found the older newspapers such as Baltimore Sun and Washington Post a bit boring and too detailed for our purpose - considering we were not Americans.

USA Today was perfect for our purpose. And every week, you could see pop charts of different types, including "the college chart" and I remember seeing "The Smiths" several times in these charts, sometimes several Smiths songs in the same list. I remember I used to wonder who they were.

In November 1983, our two daughters, Alison (8) and Sarah (6) had just celebrated their 2nd halloween in the USA.

Flashback to 1983 - Our youngest daughter Sarah (6) with

pumpkin in hand in front of our house in Columbia Md.

Our two daughters, Alison (8) and Sarah (6)

eat a pie in the kitchen of our house in Columbia Md USA

together with Derek Walters (8), one of the neighbour kids

21:00 The last hour before bedtime. Yesterday we saw an interesting TV show about sleep problems. The researchers we heard were advising viewers to stop watching tv or other electronic screens in the last hour before bedtime because this would lead to quieter, more satisfying and refreshing sleep (although not necessarily longer).

Instead of watching more TV shows, we decide to listen to a radio concert that coincidentally tonight is showcasing Australian orchestras. Lois and I usually spend the evenings on the couch in the living room and if we listen to something on the radio, we hear the digital version using our PlusnetTV device. This means that the TV screen is still on, so I need to cover it with one of Lois's coats - my god, what madness !!!

The concert ends with a performance of "Waltzing Matilda" by an orchestra from Adelaide. We keep two wall-clocks in the living room, one showing English time, and the other Australian time. I take a quick glance at the Australian clock (it is 5 o'clock in the morning over there) and I think of our dear daughter, Sarah, who lives in Perth with her little family. Their Saturday is just about to start, over there - what a crazy world we live in !!!!!

22:00 We go to bed - zzzzzz !!!!

04:30 I get up early and do one of my routine Danish vocabulary tests.

I take a little look online and I see our daughter Alison's charming picture of our 3 "Danish" grandchildren together with Ed, our son-in-law, in Rungsted, a small harbour located just north of Copenhagen.

Ed, our son-in-law together with our 3 grandchildren

in Denmark: Josie (10), Rosalind (8) and Isaac (6)

08:00 I amble out into the kitchen and make two cups of tea. I take them up to the bedroom. I jump into bed with Lois and we drink the tea. We go in the shower and afterwards we eat breakfast.

10:00 There's a ring at the door. It is Bob, our neighbour, a retired plasterer, who has come to finish the work in Alison's old room. A few days ago he started to put new plaster on the wall under the window where we had a damp problem.

Bob is in the process of putting new plaster on the wall

in Alison's old room

12:30 We have lunch and afterwards we have to leave. Lois has agreed to take part in a presentation taking place this afternoon in the village of Down Hatherley, and she is not allowed to drive a car at the moment because of cataracts. The presentation has been organised by her church. It's about "Astronomy and the Bible", which surprised Lois when she first heard about it because she thought there was not much about astronomy in the Bible, except for the star of Bethlehem maybe.

Down Hatherley Village Hall, where the meeting is taking place

She is not very much looking forward to attending the meeting because the afternoon's speaker has a reputation for being somewhat discursive, while also having some weird ideas. She is also a little worried because her friend, Gillian, has invited to the meeting all the Bible students who attend the series of Bible seminars that take place every Tuesday evening in Brockworth.

These Bible students have not yet become members of the church, and Lois is concerned about the possibility that the speaker will give the impression that the members of the church are a little nuts in the head, and they decide that they are no longer interested. My Goodness!

Down Hatherley Village Hall in happier times - 

a typical geriatric dance evening

14:30 I drive home. I have a little alone time and take a little look online. I find Morten Ingemann's latest comic strip. My Goodness! I get a bit of a shock when I see it !!!!

The Dane Ingemann is my favorite cartoonist - no doubt about it! He is very interested in ugly, overweight, middle aged or older people, the kind of people most cartoonists rarely give attention to.

Today we see a grandfather (just like me) talking to his grandson at confirmation time. The boy asks his grandfather how old he is now. As another grandpa, I can sense the man's despair. He only answers that he is in the metal age, which is not only good shorthand but also avoids being precise. The boy becomes immediately aware that the man is referring to the usual things, that is, he has gold in his mouth, new stainless steel hips, silver in his hair and lead in his ass (in other words, he is very slow). I have decided to use this very clever response in the future.

Learning Danish is learning how to live. The Danes have all the answers !!!