16:30 Vi går en kort tur til landsbyens postkasse. Vores rute: Dybegade,
Højgade og tilbage igen.
17:00 Jeg hopper op på min kondicykel og tilbagelægger endnu 6 miles
(10km). Jeg tænder for min smartphone og klikker på YouTube. Jeg ser på 1963s
bedste sange, mens jeg cykler. Året 1963 var enden på en æra, det sidste år,
hvor magten af alle de ”Bobbyer” (Bobby Vinton osv) stadig var ubestridt.
i 1963 var Bobbyernes magt ved at kollapse – uha!!!!
Mens jeg ser på året 1963s bedste sange, prøver jeg at mindes årets rolle i
min livshistorie, i et forsøg på, at overskyde demens ha ha ha.
I august 1963 tog mine forældrene og søskende på ferie til grevskabet
Cornwall. Det var det sidste
familieferie, hvor Kathy, min uartige 15-årige søster, kom med og blev sammen
med os fra start til ende – hun var allerede begyndt at gøre oprør mod vores
forældre. Jeg som en artig 17 årig fyr nød stadigvæk familieferier, selvom jeg
havde tendens til at kede mig, hvis vi alle hele dagen blev siddende på
stranden – jeg udtrak min utilfredsstillelse ved at gå i jakke og slips selv på
stranden – du godeste, jeg var lidt af en party-pooper, ingen tvivl om det!!!!
Vi vidste det ikke, men der var et problem med vores kamera. Det fandt vi
ud af, da vi fik billederne tilbage – pokkers! Dengang var der desværre ikke
nogle digitale kameraer – pokkers (igen)!!!
på Bude-stranden, tilbageblik til august 1963.
Min
søster Kathy (til venstre) fremviser sin nye bikube frisure
18:00 Lois og jeg spiser aftensmad og bruger resten af aftenen på at se
lidt fjernsyn. De viser en interessant dokumentar (2. del af 3), der handler om
større europæiske byer, der er vigtige i kunstverden. Programmets to værter er
de charmerende Janina Ramirez (også kendt hos Lois og mig som ”støvlekvinde”)
og Alastair Sooke (skøre navne, skøre mennesker!!!).
I det første afsnit koncentrerede værterne på Amsterdam, men i aften drejer
programmet sig om byen Barcelona. De besøger det interessante Mares-museum,
hvor der er tonsvis af gamle katolske statuer osv fra det 14. århundrede.
Spanien, som en dybt katolsk land var dengang selvfølgelig propfyldt af
denne slags statuer og hellige genstander, og Alastair Sooke påpeger, at
England ville have været lignende for 7 århundreder siden. Kan du forestille
det? Sikke et mareridt! Vi må være taknemmelige for, at kong Henrik 8. reddede
os fra pavens legendariske lange arm, selvom det var kun fordi han ønskede at
få en skilsmisse – det har jeg ikke
nogen tvivl om !!!!
Kom tilbage, Henrik 8. – alt er tilgivet!!!!
Museet har også en interessant samling af middelalderlige vifter. Jeg
vidste ikke, at spanske kvinder i gamle dage stak politiske beskeder på deres
vifter, så må vi sige, at vifterne var den middelalderlige ækvivalent af
moderne kofangerklistermærke – du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!!!
kvinder brugte deres vifter for at udsende
politiske
beskeder – sikke et vanvid!!!!
22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzzz!!!!!
04:15 Jeg står tidligt op og laver én af mine
rutinemæssige danske ordforrådtest.
07:45 Jeg lunter ud
i køkkenet og laver to kopper te. Jeg tager dem med op i soveværelset og hopper
op i sengen til Lois. Vi drikker téen og går i bad. Vi står op og spiser
morgenmad.
10:00 Min ven, ”Magyar” Mike kommer og vi lærer ungarsk i en time. Vi læser
den 12. lektion i vores lærebog, ”Ungarsk for begyndere”, der var udgivet i
1965, med andre ord, i den kommunistiske æra i Ungarn.
Det er lidt morsomt at læse denne lektion, der handler om tjenester, der
dengang leveredes i ungarske posthuse. Man gik dengang til posthuset for at
telefone (i én af posthusets mange telefonbokse), eller at sende et telegram
eller et postordre. En helt anderledes verden med andre ord.
Lærebogen var udgivet i 1965, og er aldrig blevet revideret eller
genoptrykt, så det er lidt underligt at se et eksempel på et brev fra Finnland,
der har 1980 som brevets dato. Mike og jeg synes, at dette var en typografisk
fejl. Det må have set meget underligt ud i øjne af én, der købte bogen, da den
først blev udgivet, lidt futuristisk!
et brev fra 1980 i en bog udgavet i 1965 –
helt
sikker en eller anden fejl her !!!!
Jeg ved ikke præcis, hvor gammel Mike er. Lois og jeg har på fornemmelse,
at han må være mindst 80. Han har glemt en masse ungarske ord, og han har svært
med at forstå teksten i denne 12. lektion. Han kunne mestre de første få
lektioner uden besvær, men standarden er nu blevet meget mere kompliceret –
uha, stakkels Mike!!!!!
11:00 Mike skal af sted, og jeg tager min islandske saga frem og læse til
enden af den 9. kapitel.
Gunnlaug, vores 18-årige islandske helt, er for tiden i Sverige, hvor han
lever nu et behageligt liv: han bliver ofte inviteret til fester af den svenske
konge (Olaf), hvor han fremsiger sine digte foran kongen, og får mange dyre
gaver som belønning.
Lois og jeg synes, at han undertiden glemmer, at han har en smuk kæreste
tilbage i Island, Helga, Islands smukkeste kvinde. Gunnlaug blev forlovet med
hende lige før han sejlede i udlandet. Han lovede at komme tilbage til Island
og gifte sig med hende indenfor 3 år, men det synes at være at han ikke føler
sig presset til at tage hjem, hvilket er lidt dumt.
Helga er Islands smukkeste kvinde.
Fis hjem, Gunnlaug – hun venter på dig !!!!
Hans rival, Hrafn, er allerede tilbage i Island og har bedt Helgas far om
at droppe Gunnlaug og lade ham (Hrafn) gifte sig med Helga, hvis Gunnlaug ikke
snart kommer tilbage. Den 3-års frist er for længe udløbet, og Helgas far er
begyndt at forberede sig på at arrangere et bryllup mellem Helga og Hrafn,
bestemt til de såkaldte ”vinternætter", dvs vinterens først 3 dage i
Island, i midten af oktober.
Men Helga er vild med Gunnlaug, og hader Hrafn. I en hollywood film ville
Gunnlaug komme hjem netop da brylluppet
er i gang, dukker op i kirken, og redde Helga fra et ubehageligt ægteskab. Men
man gjorde tingene anderledes i det 10. århundrede i Island, formoder jeg!!!!
12:30 Vi spiser frokost og bagefter går jeg i seng for at tage mig en
gigantisk eftermiddagslur – zzzzz!
14:00 Lois smutter ind i den lokale lægeklinik . Hun vil se én af
klinikkens lægere, for at får den regelmæssige årlige gennemgang af sin
medicin. Hun lider af et kolestoraltal, der er lidt for højt.
15:00 Jeg står op. Jeg afsender vores danske gruppes medlemmer de næste 10
sider af ”Forbandet”, af Gittemie Eriksen, gruppens seneste projekt, samt
ordforrådlister.
Eriksenbooks:
nogle af Gittemie Eriksens bøger
15:15 Lois kommer tilbage fra lægeklinikken. Lægen har bekræftet, at alt
går godt med behandlingen.
English translation
16:30 We go for a short walk to
the village mailbox. Our route: Dybegade, Højgade and back again.
17:00 I jump up on my exercise
bike and clock up another 6 miles (10km). I turn on my smartphone and click on
YouTube. I watch 1963's best songs while I'm cycling. The year 1963 was the end
of an era, the last year in which the power of all the "Bobbies"
(Bobby Vinton, etc.) was still unchallenged.
In 1963, the power of the Bobbies
was
about to collapse big time - oh dear !!!!
As I look at the best songs of
the year 1963, I try to remember the part played by the year 1963 in my life story,
in an attempt to postpone the dementia ha ha ha.
In August 1963 my parents and
siblings took a vacation to the county of Cornwall. It was the last family
holiday where Kathy, my naughty 15 year old sister, came along and stayed with
us from start to finish - she had already begun to rebel against our parents.
I, a good little 17 year old guy, still enjoyed family holidays, even though I
tended to get bored if we stayed sitting all day long on the beach - I
expressed my dissatisfaction by wearing jacket and tie on the beach - good
grief, I was a bit of a party-pooper, no doubt about that !!!!
We did not know it, but there was
a problem with our camera. We only found out when we got the pictures back - damn
it! At the time there were unfortunately no digital cameras - damn (again) !!!
on Bude beach, flashback to
August 1963.
My sister Kathy (left) sports her new
beehive hairstyle
18:00 Lois and I eat dinner and
spend the rest of the evening watching television. An interesting documentary
is on (2nd part of 3) talking about major European cities that are important in
the art world. The two hosts of the program are the charming Janina Ramirez
(also known by Lois and me as "boots woman") and Alastair Sooke (crazy
names, crazy people !!!).
In the first episode, the hosts
concentrated on Amsterdam, but tonight the program is about the city of
Barcelona. Janina and Alastair visit the interesting Mares Museum, where there
are tons of ancient Catholic statues etc from the 14th century.
Spain, as a deeply Catholic
country at that time, was of course chock full of these kinds of statues and
holy objects, and Alastair Sooke points out that England would have been
similar 7 centuries ago. Can you imagine that? What a nightmare! We must be
grateful that King Henry VIII saved us from the legendary long arm of the pope,
even though it was only because he wanted a divorce - that's something I have
no doubts about !!!!
Come back, Henry VIII - all is
forgiven !!!!
The museum also has an
interesting collection of medieval fans. I did not know that Spanish women in
the old days stuck political messages on their fans, so we could say that the
fans were the medieval equivalent of modern bumper stickers - good grief, what
madness !!!!!
Women used their fans to broadcast
political messages - what madness !!!!
22:00 We go to bed - zzzzzz !!!!!
04:15 I get up early and do one
of my routine Danish vocabulary tests.
07:45 I amble out to the kitchen
and make two cups of tea. I take them up to the bedroom and jump into bed with
Lois. We drink the tea and go in the shower. We get up and have breakfast.
10:00 My friend,
"Magyar" Mike comes and we learn Hungarian for an hour. We are
on the 12th lesson in our textbook, "Hungarian for Beginners",
published in 1965, in other words, during the Communist era in Hungary.
It's quite amusing to read this
lesson, which is about services that were then available in Hungarian post
offices. At that time you went to the post office in order to telephone (in one
of the many telephone boxes at the post office), or to send a telegram or mail
order. A completely different world in other words.
The textbook was published in
1965 and has never been revised or reprinted, so it is a little strange to see
an example of a letter from Finland, which has 1980 as the date of the letter.
Mike and I think this was a typographical error. It must have looked very
strange in the eyes of someone who bought the book when it was first published,
a bit futuristic!
a letter from 1980 in a
book published in 1965 -
Clearly some mistake here !!!!
I do not know exactly how old
Mike is. Lois and I have the feeling that he must be at least 80. He has forgotten
a lot of Hungarian words and is having trouble understanding the text in this
12th lesson. He could master the first few lessons without any hassle, but the
standard has now become much more complicated - oh dear, poor Mike !!!!!
11:00 Mike has to leave. I take
out my Icelandic saga and read to the end of the 9th chapter.
Gunnlaug, our 18-year-old
Icelandic hero, is currently in Sweden, where he is now living a comfortable
life: he is often invited to parties by the Swedish king (Olaf), where he presents
his poems in front of the king, and receives many an expensive present as
reward.
Lois and I think he sometimes
forgets that he has a beautiful girlfriend back in Iceland: Helga, Iceland's
most beautiful woman. Gunnlaug became engaged to her just before sailing
abroad. He promised to come back to Iceland and marry her within 3 years, but
it seems that he does not feel great pressure to go home, which is a little stupid.
Helga is Iceland's most beautiful woman.
Bug off home, Gunnlaug - she's waiting for you!!!!
His rival, Hrafn, is already back
in Iceland and has asked Helga's father to drop Gunnlaug and let him (Hrafn)
marry Helga if Gunnlaug does not come back soon. The 3-year deadline is long
expired and Helga's father has begun to prepare for a wedding between Helga and
Hrafn, fixed for the so-called "winter nights", ie the first 3 days
of winter in Iceland, in mid-October.
But Helga is crazy about
Gunnlaug, and hates Hrafn. In a Hollywood movie, Gunnlaug would come home just
as the wedding gets going, show up in the church, and save Helga from an
unpleasant marriage. But they did things differently in the 10th century in
Iceland, I suppose !!!!
12:30 We eat lunch and afterwards
I go to bed and take a gigantic afternoon nap - zzzzz!
14:00 Lois pops into the local
medical clinic. She wants to see one of the clinic's doctors to get the regular
annual review of her medicine. She suffers from a cholesterol level that is a
bit too high.
15:00 I get up. I send our Danish
group members the next 10 pages of "Forbandet", by Gittemie Eriksen,
the group's latest project, together with vocabulary lists.
Some
of Gittemie Eriksen's books
15:15 Lois comes back from the
clinic. The doctor has confirmed that everything is going well with the
treatment.
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