Torsdag den 4. maj 2017 kl 16:30 fredag den 5. maj 2017 kl 16:29

17:00 Lois og jeg taler lidt på Skype med Alison, vores datter i København. Den første gang prøver hun sin mac-computer, men ligesom i tirsdags kunne vi ikke høre hende (selvom hun kunne høre os), så til sidst bruger hun sin ipad, og vi har endelig succes – hurra!

Vi taler lidt om Ed, vores svigersøn, og udsigterne i forhold til hans næste job. Han arbejder for en stor multinationalt selskab, der ejer firmaer i mange lande, men deres profit har ikke været så stor i de fleste områder, bortset fra dets enorme amerikanske datterselskab. Det er Eds ansvar at organisere salget af datterselskaber i de nordiske lande, hvilket vil tage mindst ét år. Når dette projekt bliver slut, vil der ikke være et job til Ed længere tilbage i selskabets engelske hovedkontor.

Det kan være, at han skifter selskab og det er ikke sikkert, hvor hans næste job skal findes. Som altid, holder han øje med jobannoncerne verden over – du godeste! Sikke en skør verden vi lever i !!!! Der er store chancer for at fortsætte med at arbejde i Danmark, og Alison siger, at de ville have råd til at fortsætte med at sende deres 3 børn i den internationale skole i Hellerup, hvilket er lidt af en lettelse! At blive boende og arbejdende i Danmark er helt sikkert en mulighed.

For Lois og mig er det ikke kun et akademisk spørgsmål. Det har været sværere, end vi forventede, at komme overens med, at vores 2 kærlige døtre og deres familier, alle bor i udlandet, med den ene familie på den anden side af verden. I det mindste bor Alison og hendes familie i Europa, og er mindre end 2 timer væk, men hvem ved, hvor Eds næste job vil være – det kunne være næsten hvor som helst i verden – du godeste, stakkels Lois og mig, nu hvor vi bliver svagere med hvert år, der går!!! Det vil have været bedre, hvis vi havde fået flere børn, det er vi nu ”smertefuldt” [bogstaveligt talt!!!]  klar over!!!!

18:00 Lois og jeg spiser aftensmad og bruger resten af aftenen på at se lidt fjernsyn. De viser en interessant reality tv-program, ”Bedre sent, end aldrig”, der handler om 4 ældre amerikanske berømtheder, der besøger forskellige lande i Asien, tilsyneladende for første gang, hvilket er lidt overraskende. Dette første afsnit handler om Tokyo.

Der er en masse ganske morsomt drilleri mellem de 4 ældre kendisser: William Shatner, Henry Winkler, George Foreman og Terry Bradshaw. Det er ikke virkelig vores sans for humor, men det er meget nostalgisk for os at se Tokyo, og mindes om, hvor forvirrende det er at ankomme i byen og se de overfyldte gader, banegårder osv, og alle de forvirrende plakater og vejskilte – du godeste! Jeg var studerende fra 1970 til 1971 i Tokyo 1-2 år før vi giftede os, og Lois besøgte mig der i 2-3 uger.

Jeg kan huske, at jeg, ligesom disse 4 kendisser,

blev overrumplet over, at være omgivet af masser af mennesker

overalt i Tokyo dag ind dag ud.

de 4 kendissers første forsøg på

at købe togbilletter (her ser vi Henry Winkel)

tilbageblik til september 1970 – mit

første skræmmende forsøg på at købe en togbillet 

på en automat – du  godeste!

de 4 kendisser får deres første udsigt over bjerget Fuji.

Det er lidt af en skam, at dagen var lidt overskyet og lidt tåget. Pokkers!

Tilbageblik til april 1971: Lois og mig fik en alt bedre udsigt

over bjerget Fuji – i strålende solskin hurra!!!!

Lois slapper af efter sin lange flyvetur fra London til Tokyo via Moskva

Lois og jeg besøger en berømt sø i nærheden af Tokyo

22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzzzz!!!!

04:00 Jeg står tidligt op og kigger lidt på nettet.

07:45 Jeg lunter ind 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 står op. Vi spiser morgenmad.

09:00 Vi kører over til det lokale Sainsburys-supermarked for at købe ind. På vej smutter vi ind i Waghorne’s, den lokale slagterforretning, for at købe kød og brød. Vi kører hjem og slapper af med en kop kaffe i sofaen.

10:30 Jeg blader igennem de første 200 linjer af Layamons Brut, den middelengelske tekst, som Lyndas U3A ”Making of English” gruppe læser som vores nuværende projekt. Gruppens næste møde finder sted i eftermiddag kl 14:30 på Everyman-teatrets café midt i byen.

11:30 Jeg går ud i baghaven for at fylde vandtynden, vi har sat i bunden af haven, så Lois uden besvær kan vande grøntsagfrøene, hun for et par uger siden plantede. Vi har haft næste ingen regn i de seneste 4-5 uger. Det er ironisk, at 2017 er det første år i flere år, vi har kunnet finde tid til at plante grøntsager, og vi har haft en yderst yderst tør forår. Bare vores held!!!!

12:15 Vi spiser frokost og bagefter går jeg i seng for at tage mig en kort eftermiddagslur – zzzzzzz!!!

13:45 Jeg står op og kører ind i byen.

I mellemtiden skal Lois 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 (indtil december 2015), plejede Lois og jeg at tage Sarahs tvillinger med til sessioner – lykkelige dage!

Jeg deltager i Lyndas ”Making of English” gruppes månedlige møde, hvor vi diskuterer Layomans Brut, der handler om krigen mellem kong Arthur og de invaderende angelsaksiske hærer, det store slag ved Bath osv. Medlemmerne skiftes til at læse ca 25 linjer op og oversætte til engelsk.

16:00 Gruppens møde slutter, og jeg kører hjem igen. Jeg er overrasket over, at der er massive bilkøer i byen. Da jeg kommer hjem, gører jeg lidt forskning på nettet. Jeg opdager at dagens hestevæddeløbsfestival  starter kl 17, og der hele finder sted i aften, hvilket er meget usædvanligt. Normalt starter festivaler ved 12-tiden og slutter ved 17-tiden. Jeg har på fornemmelse, at disse ”aftensfestivaler” måske startede i fjor, da Lois og jeg var i Australien. Pokkers!!!!

English translation

17:00 Lois and I talk a little on Skype with Alison, our daughter in Copenhagen. The first time, she tries Skype on her mac computer, but like Tuesday we could not hear her (even though she could hear us), so in the end she uses her ipad and we're finally successful - hurrah!

We talk a little about Ed, our son-in-law, and the prospects for his next job. He works for a large multinational company that owns companies in many countries, but their profits have not been so great in most areas, except for its huge US subsidiary. It is Ed's responsibility to organise the sale of their subsidiaries in the Nordic countries, which will take at least one year. When this project ends, there will be no job for Ed any more in the company's UK headquarters.

It could happen that he changes company and it is not certain where his next job is going to be. As always, he is keeping an eye on job ads all over the world - good grief! What a crazy world we live in !!!! There are big chances for continuing to work in Denmark and Alison says that they could afford to continue sending their 3 children to the International School in Hellerup, which is a bit of a relief! Continuing to live and work in Denmark is definitely an option.

For Lois and me it's not just an academic question. It has been harder than we expected to come to terms with the fact that our 2 dear daughters and their families all live abroad, with one family on the other side of the world. At least Alison and her family live in Europe and are less than 2 hours away, but who knows where Ed's next job will be - it could be almost anywhere in the world - good grief, poor Lois and me, now we are getting weaker with every year that passes !!! It would have been better if we had more children, that's something we are now "painfully" [literally !!!] clear about !!!!

18:00 Lois and I eat dinner and spend the rest of the evening watching television. An interesting reality TV show is on, "Better Late, Never", about 4 elderly American celebrities visiting different countries in Asia, apparently for the first time, which is a bit surprising. This first episode is about Tokyo.

There is a lot of amusing banter between the 4 elderly celebrities: William Shatner, Henry Winkler, George Foreman and Terry Bradshaw. It's not really our sense of humor, but it's very nostalgic for us to see Tokyo, and remember how confusing it is to arrive in the city and see the crowded streets, railway stations, etc., and all the confusing posters and road signs - my goodness! I was a student in Tokyo from 1970 to 1971, 1-2 years before we got married, and Lois visited me there for 2-3 weeks.

I remember that, like these four celebrities,

I was taken aback by being surrounded by lots of people

everywhere in Tokyo day in day out.

The 4 celebrities' first attempt

to buy train tickets (here we see Henry Winkler)

flashback to September 1970 – my

first scary attempt to buy a train ticket 

at a vending machine - my god!

The 4 celebrities get their first view of Mount Fuji.

It's a bit of a shame that the day was a little cloudy and a little foggy. Damn!

Flashback to April 1971: Lois and I got a way better view

of mountain Fuji - in brilliant sunshine hurray !!!!

Lois relaxes after her long flight from London to Tokyo via Moscow

Lois and I visit a famous lake near Tokyo

22:00 We go to bed – zzzzzz !!!!!

04:00 I get up early and look online.

07:45 I amble into the kitchen and make two cups of tea. I take them up into the bedroom and hop into bed with Lois. We drink the tea and get up. We eat breakfast.

09:00 We drive over to the local Sainsbury's supermarket to do the shopping. On our way we pop into Waghorne's, the local butcher's shop, to buy meat and bread. We drive home and relax with a cup of coffee on the couch.

10:30 I browse through the first 200 lines of Layamon's Brut, the Middle English text that Lynda's U3A "Making of English" group is reading as our current project. The next meeting of the group will take place this afternoon at 2:30pm at the Everyman Theater's cafe in the middle of town.

11:30 I go out into the backyard to fill the rain-butt we have put at the bottom of the garden, so Lois can easily water the vegetable seeds she planted a couple of weeks ago. We have had almost no rain in the last 4-5 weeks. It is ironic that 2017 is the first year for several years that we have been able to find time to plant vegetables, and we have had a very very dry spring. Just our luck !!!!

12:15 We eat lunch and afterwards I go to bed and take a short afternoon nap - zzzzzzz !!!

13:45 I get up and drive into town.

Meanwhile, Lois goes to the local library to help library staff organise and run the weekly Baby Bounce and Rhyme session for young mothers and their little children. The activities consist of children's songs for babies and parents (and grandparents). When our other daughter, Sarah, still lived and worked in England (until December 2015), Lois and I used to take Sarah's twins to the sessions - happy days!

I take part in Lynda's "Making of English" group's monthly meeting, where we discuss Layomon's Brut, dealing with the war between King Arthur and the invading Anglo-Saxon armies, the great battle at Bath, etc. Members take turns to read about 25 lines out and translate them to modern English.

16:00 The group meeting ends and I drive home again. I'm surprised that there are massive traffic jams in town. When I get home, I do a little research online. I find that today's horse racing festival starts at 5pm, and it all takes place this evening, which is very unusual. Normally, festivals start at 12 o'clock and end at 5 o'clock. I have the impression that these "evening festivals" might perhaps have started last year when Lois and I were in Australia. Damn !!!!