Danskcolin: Søndag den 21. maj 2017 kl 16:30 mandag den 22. maj 2017 kl 16:29

17:00 Jeg hopper op på min kondicykel og tilbagelægger endnu 6 miles (10km) og jeg samtidigt ser på gamle popsange/videoer på YouTube. I dag er det året 1955, jeg er nået tilbage til. Hver gang jeg hopper op på min cykel, stiller jeg året ét år tilbage.

Billboards Hot 100-hitliste var tilsyneladende ikke blevet opfundet endnu – det dukkede først op det følgende år. Mens jeg cykler, har jeg kun tid til at høre et par sange fra 1955, alle komplet (på bare 2 minutter hver, som i de dage var sædvanligt ). Jeg bemærker, at rock’n’roll ikke endnu er begyndt. Det må have været det følgende år (1956), at rock’n’roll eksploderede. Det føles som om vi er i en anderledes verden, da jeg hører disse gamle søde sange fra 1955 (eller 1 FEP – ét år før Elvis Presley).

Mine forældre, mine 2 søskende og jeg boede dengang i Kingsbury, en lille forstad til London. I august holdt familien en sommerferie i Broadstairs, en lille badeby, der ligger i grevskabet Kent.

Tilbageblik til sommeren 1955: mig på min tricykel,

en form for cykel, der dengang var meget populær for unge børn.

i vores baghave i Kingsbury.

Mig på Broadstairs-stranden

Foto X54168: (fra venstre til højre) Kathy, min 7-årige søster,

Steve, min 3-årige bror, min 41-årige far (alle tre rødhårede) og mig (9).

En professionel fotograf dukkede op og tog vores billede i vandet,

som vi senere købte i hans butik i byen.

Stranden var propfyldt med forældre og børn, som sædvanligt i de dage

Lykkelige dage!!!!

18:00 Lois og jeg spiser aftensmad. Bagefter taler vi lidt på Skype med Alison, vores datter i København. Alle er meget trætte, men det er meget sjovt at tale med hende om hendes families liv i Danmark, sammen med Ed, hendes mand, og deres 3 børn.

vi taler lidt på Skype med Alison, vores datter i København

Alison siger, at den kommende uge vil være en kort uge, fordi familien på torsdag rejser til øen Bornholm, der ligger i allerøstligste ende af Danmark, i Østersøen, hvor de vil holde nogle dages ferie.

Der har ikke været ingen væsentlige udviklinger i Eds søgen efter et nyt job, når hans nuværende selskab ved slutningen af året afskediger ham. Der er stadig 3 optioner: Hong Kong, USA og Holland. Den eneste nyhed fra denne uge er, at det hollandske selskab har bedt Ed om at mødes med dem. Ellers er spørgsmålet ikke gået fremad.

Det er allerede arrangeret, at Ali og Ed først i juni rejser til Hong Kong for et ”ægteskabeligt interview”, og Lois og jeg flyver til København for at passe på vores 3 børnebørn i deres forældres fravær.

20:00 Lois og jeg smækker benene op foran fjernsynet. De viser det 5. afsnit i den 2. sæson af ”Durrells”, der handler om den britiske Durrell-familie (Louisa, en enke plus hendes 3 sønner og 1 datter), der boede på øen Corfu i 1930’erne, en sandfærdig historie, baseret på de autobiografiske bøger, som Louisas yngste søn, Gerald Durrell, den berømte naturalist, senere på livet skrev.

Et morsomt afsnit. Det er interessant, at programmet viser, at det dengang var ikke meget sexet at være engelsaksisk. Du godeste, ingen overraskelse der!!!!

Lawrence, Geralds storbror, der også senere blev en berømt forfatter, ønsker at afskrække sin seksuelt grådige græske elskerinde, Vassilia (der ejer familiens hus), fra at prøve konstant at forføre ham, mens han prøver at skrive. Så han adopterer strategien af at opføre sig på en ”mere typisk engelsk” måde. Han begynder at folde sit tøj sammen på en velordnet måde, ligesom Sheldon i Big Bang Theory, og han tilbyder Vassilia en kop varm chokolade, da hun smutter sin bh af foran ham og giver ham den, uden at tage sin bluse af først – du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!!

Vassilia forsøger konstant at forføre Lawrence,

mens han prøver at skrive sin roman – du godeste!

Lawrence prøver at afskrække Vassilia ved at

opføre sig i en mere ”engelsk” måde, foldende sit tøj ordentligt

sammen osv, ligesom Sheldon i Big Bang Theory.

Vassilia reagerer ved at smutte sin bh af

foran ham og give ham den

Lawrence tilbyder hende en kop varm chokolade

- du godeste, sikke et vanvid !!!!

Tværtimod vil Geralds unge engelske private tutor, Donald, gerne imponere Geralds storsøster Margo, men hun er ikke interesseret – hun plejer at falde kun for græske mænd. Så derfor beslutter Donald at prøve at ser mindre engelsk og mere ”eksotisk” ud. Han prøver at blive solbrændt opdigter en historie, at hans forældre er brasilianere. Desværre ved hele familien allerede, at Donalds forældre bor i Reading, en storby i det engelske grevskab Berkshire, så han må opdigte en historie om, at de bor i Readings ”brasilianske kvarter”. Du godeste, sikke et vanvid !!!!

Donald opdigter en dum historie for at imponere

Margo. Han foregiver, at han er brasilianer fra Readings ”brasilianske kvarter”

- du godeste sikke et vanvid!!!!

Donalds forsøg på et forføre Margo mislykkes,

men Lois og jeg synes, hun endelig er begyndt at varme til ham – hurra!

22:00 Vi går i seng. Jeg læser 8 sider af min nye sengetidbog, ”Victorians Undone” af Kathryn Hughes (nu hvor Lois er færdig med at læse den, begynder jeg at læse forfatterens såkaldte ”obligatoriske” forord. Forfattere bliver mere og mere krævende – det ved med sikkerhed!!!!), inden jeg glider over i søvn – zzzzz!!!!

min nye sengetidbog

04:15 Jeg står tidligt op og laver én af mine rutinemæssige danske ordforrådtest.

08:00 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 Vi går ud i baghaven og bruger formiddagen på at lave lidt havearbejde. Det lykkes at installere vores haveslange, luger lidt i grøntsaghaven, og skærer kanterne af de største græsplæne. Det bliver varmt, og det er lidt af et chok – det er vi ikke vænnede til! Vi begynder at føle os lidt svimle, så vi slapper af med en kop kaffe på terrassen. Vi bliver gamle – det har jeg ikke nogen tvivl om !!!!

Vi kommer tilbage ind i huset. Jeg ringer til den Thomas Cooks rejsebureau, der har til huse i den lokale Waitrose-supermarked. Jeg bestiller et lille beløb danske kroner i kontanter, som vi skal hente på torsdag.

12:30 Vi spiser frokost og bagefter går jeg i seng for at tage mig en gigantisk eftermiddagslur.

15:00 Jeg står op og vi slapper af med en kop te i sofaen.

Jeg kigger lidt på nettet, og jeg ser nogle charmerende billeder, som vores to døtre har lagt op på Instagram og Facebook.

Sarah, vores datter i Perth Australien, gik i fredags til en fest sammen med sine tidligere arbejdskollegaer fra Hungry Jacks / Burger King. Hendes første job i Australien var hos Hungry Jacks i deres regionelle hovedkontor i Perth. Dette kontor er ved at blive lukket og kontorets opgaver er ved at blive overtaget af selskabets nationale hovedkontor i Sydney, selvom de fleste af Perth-kontorets personale har besluttet at blive boende og arbejdende i Perth og få jobs hos andre virksomheder.

Sarah, vores datter i Perth Australien

til en fest sammen med sine tidligere arbejdskollegaer

hos Hungry Jacks / Burger Kings regionelle hovedkontor.

Sarah har sin lille sorte kjole på – hvor ser hun dog glamorøs!

Alison, vores datter i København, og Ed, hendes mand, har lagt nogle charmerende billede af deres 6-årige søn, Isaac, som de i søndags tog med midt i byen, mens Isaacs to søstre deltog i fester med deres skolekammerater.

Alison, vores datter i København, Ed (Alisons mand)

og Issac (deres 6-årige søn) i søndags midt i byen

English translation

17:00 I jump up on my exercise bike and clock up another 6 miles (10km) and I watch old pop songs / videos on YouTube at the same time. Today it's the year 1955, that I have arrived back at. Every time I jump on my bike, I set the year one year back.

The Billboard Hot 100 chart had apparently not been invented yet - it did not appear until the following year. While I'm cycling, I only have time to hear a few songs from 1955, all complete (at just 2 minutes each, as was usual in those days). I notice that rock'n'roll has not yet begun. It must have been the following year (1956) that rock'n'roll exploded. It feels like we are in a different world when I hear these old sweet songs from 1955 (or 1 FEP - one year before Elvis Presley).

My parents, my 2 siblings and I lived in Kingsbury, a small suburb of London. In August, the family had a summer holiday in Broadstairs, a small seaside resort located in the county of Kent.

Flashback to the summer of 1955: me on my tricycle,

a kind of bike that was then very popular for young children.

in our backyard in Kingsbury.

Me on Broadstairs Beach

Photo X54168: (left to right) Kathy, my 7 year old sister,

Steve, my 3 year old brother, my 41 year old father (all three redheaded)

and 9-year-old me. A professional photographer appeared and

took our picture in the water, which we later bought in his shop in the town.

The beach was packed with parents and children, as was usual in those days

Happy days!!!!

18:00 Lois and I have dinner. Afterwards, we talk a little on Skype with Alison, our daughter in Copenhagen. Everybody is very tired, but it's a lot of fun to talk to her about her family's life in Denmark, together with Ed, her husband and their 3 children.

We talk a little on Skype with Alison, our daughter in Copenhagen

Alison says that the coming week will be a short week because on Thursday the family is travelling to the island of Bornholm, located at the very easterly end of Denmark, in the Baltic Sea, where they will have a few days’ holiday.

There have been no significant developments in Ed's search for a new job when his current company lets him go at the end of the year. There are still 3 options: Hong Kong, USA and Holland. The only news from this week is that the Dutch company has asked Ed to meet with them. Otherwise, the issue has not got further forward.

It has already been arranged that Ali and Ed will travel to Hong Kong for a "marital interview" in June, and Lois and I are flying to Copenhagen to look after our 3 grandchildren in their parents' absence.

20:00 Lois and I stick our feet up in front of the television. The 5th episode of the 2nd season of "The Durrells" is on, all about the British Durrell family (Louisa, a widow plus her 3 sons and 1 daughter), who lived on the island of Corfu in the 1930s, a true story, based on the autobiographical books which Louisa's youngest son Gerald Durrell, the famous naturalist, wrote later on.

A fun episode. It is interesting that the program shows that at that time it was not very sexy to be Anglo-Saxon. Good grief, no surprise there !!!!

Lawrence, Gerald's brother, who later also became a famous author, wants to deter his sexually voracious Greek mistress, Vassilia (who owns the family's house), from constantly trying to seduce him while he is trying to write. So he adopts the strategy of behaving in a "more typically English" way. He begins to always fold his clothes up in a well-ordered fashion, like Sheldon in the Big Bang Theory, and he offers Vassilia a cup of hot chocolate when she slips her bra off in front of him and gives him it without taking her blouse off first - good grief, what madness !!!!

Vassilia is constantly trying to seduce Lawrence,

while he is trying to write his novel - good grief!

Lawrence tries to deter Vassilia by behaving in a more "English" way,

folding his clothes up properly , like Sheldon in the Big Bang Theory.

Vassilia responds by slipping her bra off

in front of him and giving it to him

Lawrence offers her a cup of hot chocolate

- good grief, what madness !!!!

Contrariwise, Gerald's young English private tutor Donald would like to impress Gerald's big sister Margo, but she is not interested - she usually only falls for Greek men. So Donald decides to try to look less English and more "exotic". He tries to get sun-tanned, and makes up a story that his parents are Brazilian. Unfortunately the whole family already know that Donald's parents live in Reading, a big town in the English county of Berkshire, so he has to make up a story that they live in Reading's "Brazilian quarter". Good grief, what madness !!!!

Donald invents a stupid story to impress

Margo. He claims that he is a Brazilian from Reading's

Brazilian Quarter" - good grief, what madness !!!!

Donald's attempt at seducing Margo

fails, but Lois and I think she has finally started to warm to him - hurrah!

22:00 We go to bed. I read 8 pages of my new bedside book, "Victorians Undone" by Kathryn Hughes (now that Lois has finished reading it, I begin to read the author's so-called "mandatory" preface. Authors are getting more and more demanding - that's something I know for certain!!!!) before I drift off to sleep - zzzzz !!!!

my new bedtime book

04:15 I get up early and do one of my routine Danish vocabulary tests.

08:00 I amble out into 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 get up. We have breakfast.

10:00 We go out into the backyard and spend the morning doing gardening. We succeed in installing our garden hose, do a little weeding in the vegetable garden, and cut the edges of the largest lawn. It gets warm and it's a bit of a shock - we are not used to it! We start to feel a bit faint, so we relax with a cup of coffee on the terrace. We are getting old - there's no doubt about that !!!!

We come back into the house. I call the Thomas Cook travel agency housed in the local Waitrose supermarket. I order a small amount of Danish kroner in cash, which we will pick up on Thursday.

12:30 We have lunch and afterwards I go to bed and take a gigantic afternoon nap.

15:00 I get up and we relax with a cup of tea on the couch.

I take a little look online and I see some charming pictures that our two daughters have posted on Instagram and Facebook.

Sarah, our daughter in Perth Australia, went to a party on Friday with her former colleagues from Hungry Jack's / Burger King. Her first job in Australia was at Hungry Jack's in their regional headquarters in Perth. This office is being closed and the office's work is being taken over by the company's headquarters in Sydney, although most of the Perth office staff have decided to stay working in Perth and get jobs with other companies.

Sarah, our daughter in Perth Australia

at a party with her former colleagues

at Hungry Jack's / Burger King Regional Headquarters.

Sarah has her little black dress on - how glamorous she looks!

Alison, our daughter in Copenhagen, and Ed, her husband, have posted some charming pictures of their 6-year-old son, Isaac, who they took into the middle of the city on Sunday while Isaac's two sisters were attending parties with their schoolmates.