Lois og jeg inviterer næsten aldrig folk til middag hos os – det falder os
simpelthen aldrig ind at gøre det. Hvorfor skulle man?
Men i dag kaster vi en ”mini-middagsselskab” til 3 personer (Susan, mine
kusine fra Colorado, og John og hans kone Chris fra Witney – John er min fætter
og Susans bror). Det hele er lidt af en sjælden begivenhed for vores
vedkommende. Lois bruger formiddagen på at lave mad til en 3-retters måltid, og
jeg fortsætter med at rydde op og støvsuge i huset, og til sidst dække bord i
spisestuen.
Minx, katten vores datter Alison efterlod hos os, da hendes familie i 5 år
siden flyttede til Danmark, bliver nu bortvist til vaskerummet: både Susan og
John er allergiske overfor katte. Stakkels Minx!!!!
Lois er lidt nervøs, fordi der altid er muligheden for, at maden ikke er
vellykket – og Susan var engang en restaurant kritik arbejdende for en avis i
Denver. Skræmmende!!!!!
Men vi er ikke nervøse, hvad angår samtalerne osv – de er alle tre meget
nemme at snakke med. Vi er alle i en lignende alder, og er meget glade for at
beklage os alle sammen for alle pengene over den moderne verden – det har jeg
ikke nogen tvivl om.
(fra venstre til højre) Susan, John og Chris
12:15 Vores gæster ankommer og Susan rækker mig en flaske hvidvin, hun har
købt. Efter 30 minutters snak begynder vi at spise – Lois’s mad er meget
vellykket gudskelov.
Lois og jeg plejer ikke at drikke
alkohol, fordi eksperterne altid fraråder os at gøre det, men i går købte vi 3
flaske vin, en flaske sherry og 6 flasker øl som forberedelse på denne
middagsselskab.
Jeg har også håbet på, at der ville være lidt alkohol tilbage efter vores
gæster skulle til af sted. Det er vi faktisk ganske heldige i, fordi de alle 3
drikker sodavand før måltiden og kun hver et halvt glas af vinen, Susan købte,
under måltiden. Jeg drikker selv resten af
flasken og jeg kan drikke resten af vinen, sherry, og øl, når som helst jeg har
lyst til, over de næste få dage, hvilket er behageligt. Jeg finder ofte, at
livet overrasker mig på en positiv måde ha ha ha.
14:30 Susan, John, Chris og Lois slapper af i stuen, mens jeg vasker op.
Derefter snakker vi indtil de kl 16 skal til af sted.
Det er trøstende at høre Susans stemme, der minder mig om min afdøde søster
Kathys stemme. De flyttede begge to til USA, Susan i ca. 1970, og Kathy i 1983,
og deres accent svæver et eller andet sted over Atlanterhavet, selvom Susan er
længere mod vest, end Kathys.
Hvis du bor i et andet engelsktalende land er det en klar fordel til dig at
modificere lidt din accent nu og da, for at minimere misforståelser, især når
du eksempelvis bestiller mad på en MacDonalds
drive-in-restaurant og især hvis mikrofoner ner er af lav kvalitet (jeg taler hypotetisk ha ha ha). Efter en
kort periode bliver dette automatisk, især hvis dine børn går i lokale skoler
og adoptere den lokale accent med entusiasme (jeg taler hypotetisk igen).
Lois og jeg boede mellem 1982 og 1985 i Maryland , hvor vi hyggede os
meget, og vi besøgte Susan for ca 35 år siden, da hun boede i Denver med sin
eksmand. Det er meget rart og nostalgisk nu at snakke lidt med hende om livet i
USA: også om Trump, Harvey, Irma, Jose og andre naturlige katastrofer.
Susan, John og Chris er alle tre meget glade for at se billederne af vores
5 børnebørn: 3 i København og 2 i Perth, Australien. John har 2 børnebørn, men han ser dem kun
sjældent, fordi der desværre har været skilsmisser eller lignende.
Susan har selv længtes efter at blive bedstemor, men hendes datter, Magda,
er nu 40 år gammel og har ikke nogen partner. Magda har nu sin egen lille psykologiske/psykiatriske
praksis i delstaten Oregon. Hun lejer også en lille gård og passer på
forskellige dyr, herunder gader og ænder – du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!!
Susan er meget frisk på at fremme den lokale monark-sommerfuglbefolkning og
har plantet en skov af silkeplanter i
sin have – du godeste, sikke en skør verden vi lever i !!!!!
16:15 Lois og jeg siger farvel til vores gæster og slapper af med en kop te
i sofaen.
Lois har nu i et nogle dage ikke tænkt på noget andet, end denne
mini-middagsselskab og pludselig er det slut, og hun mindes, at hun om to dage
skal besøge det lokale hospital for at have sin øjenoperation (selvom der
desværre stadig er tid til at, hospitalet udskyde den – uha!).
Hun graver oplysningspjecer frem, som hospitalet for et par måneder siden sendte
hende, og læser dem i detaljer for første gang. Det bliver alvorligt nu.
Lois graver oplysningspjecer frem, der handler om
hendes
(forhåbentlig) overhængende øjenoperation - skræmmende !!!!
Det underlige er, at hun mest er nervøs over muligheden, at hun skal ligge
ned på noget smalt – hvilket ofte foregår på hospitaler. Hun har lidt af en
fobi for, at falde ned på gulvet, hvilket er lidt af en overraskelse for mig.
Bortset fra dette, virker hun ikke ret bekymret over det hele.
Hospitalet vil have hende til at indskrive sig kl 08:30 på fredag. Vi
håber, at jeg kan hente hende i løbet af eftermiddagen. Stakkels Lois!!!!!
18:30 Vi er ikke ret sulten efter vores 3-rettes frokost, så derfor nipper
vi kun til et par stykker toast og bruger aftenen på at se lidt fjernsyn. Vi er
meget trætte.
20:00 De viser en dokumentarfilm i serien ”Verdens travleste byer”, der
handler om byen Moskva. Programmets værter er Dan Snow, Anita Rani og Ade
Adepitan.
Lois ved altid, om jeg er meget træt, fordi tv-værter altid begynder at
irritere mig, når jeg er træt. Ade Adepitan er sort, og er handicappet (i
kørestol), så derfor i teorien er jeg ikke tilladt at kritisere ham. Jeg
indvender ikke, at han er sort og handicappet (jeg er alt hjerte), men bare, at
han ikke taler ordenligt engelsk: hans stemme og udtale har et ekko af sort
londoners dialekt, hvilket er helt okay i hverdagen, men ikke passende til en
tv-vært efter min mening. De russerne, han taler med, taler faktisk meget bedre
engelsk, end han gør – du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!
Værten Ade Adepitan (i kørestol) interviewer
russer,
der taler meget bedre engelsk, end han gør – sikke et vanvid!!!
Et interessant program. Vi ser for eksempel, diagrammerne, som den russiske
myndigheder publiserede efter den 2. verdenskrig, for at vise det minimale rum
(og minimal antal af centimeter), folk havde brug for, for at dyrke
hverdagsaktiviteter i (gå i seng, vaske sig, gå på toilettet osv), så staten
kunne designe de mindste muligt lejligheder til landets borgere. Du godeste,
sikke et vanvid !!!!
De sovietske myndigheder beregnede det minimale rum, og minimal
antal
af centimeter, som folk havde brug for, for at dyrke
hverdagsaktiviteter
(med diagrammer!!!), men intet uanstændigt ha ha ha.
Du
godeste – sikke et vanvid !!!
Lois interesserer sig meget for diagrammet, der viser en nøgen menneske på en
seng, fordi hun har denne fobi for at ligger ned på smalle senge, som hun er lide
bekymret for i forbindelse med sin kommende øjenoperation på fredag. Men
desværre giver diagrammet på skærmen kun statistikken om sengens længde, og ikke
om sengens brede. Kvinden i billedet er 170-175 cm høj/lang, og sengen er
180-185cm – altså perfekt ha ha ha!!!
Lois har en fobi for at måtte ligge ned på en smal seng.
Senere i programmet besøger værten Anita Rani en anti-café, Ziferblat, hvor
man kan spise, drikke kaffe, læse, sove, snakke, danse, spille kort eller
brætspil, bruge caféens lille bibliotek osv, og hvor man kun betaler for tiden,
man tilbringer (kaffe, snacks osv er gratis).
Værten Anita Rani stiller et spørgsmål,
der
afslører en typisk engelsk reaktion på Moskvas anti-café fænomen!!!
To af en halv time med gratis kaffe og kager koster 4,50£, så derfor er det
1,80 per time – ikke ret dyrt. Men jeg forudsiger ikke, at idéen slår an i
Cheltenham, af en eller anden grund.
22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzzzz!!!!!
English translation
Lois and I almost never invite
people to dinner with us - it simply never occurs to us to do it. Why would
one?
But today we are throwing a
mini-dinner-party for 3 people (Susan, my cousin from Colorado, and John and
his wife Chris from Witney - John is my cousin and Susan's brother). The whole
thing is a bit of a rare event for us. Lois spends the morning cooking for a
3-course meal, and I carry on clearing up and vacuuming in the house, and
finally lay the table in the dining room.
Minx, the cat our daughter Alison
left with us when her family moved to Denmark 5 years ago, now gets expelled to
the laundry room: both Susan and John are allergic to cats. Poor Minx !!!!
Lois is a little nervous because
there is always the possibility that the food is not successful - and Susan was
once a restaurant critic working for a newspaper in Denver. Scary !!!!!
But we are not nervous about the
conversations, etc. - all three of them are very easy to talk to. We are all of
a similar age and are very happy to grumble together about the modern world
like nobody's business, I have no doubts about that.
(from left to right) Susan, John
and Chris
12:15 Our guests arrive and Susan
hands me a bottle of white wine she has bought. After 30 minutes chat we start
to eat - Lois's food is a big success thank god.
Lois and I do not usually drink
alcohol because the experts always discourage us from doing it, but yesterday
we bought 3 bottles of wine, a bottle of sherry and 6 bottles of beer in
preparation for this dinner party.
I have also been hoping that
there would be some alcohol left after our guests leave. We are actually quite
lucky there because all 3 of them have soft drinks before the meal and during
the meal they only have half a glass each of the wine that Susan bought. I have the
rest of the bottle myself and I can drink the rest of the wine, sherry and beer
whenever I want to over the next few days, which is pleasant. I often find that
life surprises me in a positive way ha ha ha.
14:30 Susan, John, Chris and Lois
relax in the living room while I do the washing up. Then we talk until they
have to go at 4pm.
It is comforting to hear Susan's
voice, which reminds me of my late sister Kathy's voice. They both moved to the
United States, Susan in about 1970, and Kathy in 1983, and their accents have
hovered somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean, although Susan is farther west than
Kathy's.
If you live in another
English-speaking country, it's a clear advantage for you to modify your accent
every now and then, to minimise misunderstandings, especially when you are for
example ordering food at a MacDonald's drive-through restaurant and especially if
the microphones are poor quality (I speak hypothetically ha ha ha). After a
short period of time, this will become automatic, especially if your children
go to local schools and adopt the local accent with enthusiasm (I speak hypothetically
again).
Lois and I lived in Maryland
between 1982 and 1985, where we had a great time, and we visited Susan about 35
years ago when she lived in Denver with her ex-husband. It's very nice and a
bit nostalgic now to talk a little to her about life in the United States: also
about Trump, Harvey, Irma, Jose and other natural disasters.
Susan, John and Chris all seem very
happy to see the pictures of our 5 grandchildren: the 3 in Copenhagen and the 2 in
Perth, Australia. John has 2 grandchildren, but he sees them only rarely,
because unfortunately there have been divorces or the like.
Susan has longed to be a
grandmother, but her daughter Magda is now 40 years old and has not got a
partner. Magda now has her own little psychological / psychiatric practice in
the state of Oregon. She also rents a small farm and looks after various
animals, including goats and ducks - good grief, what madness !!!!
Susan is very keen on promoting
the local monarch-butterfly population and has planted a forest of milkweed in
her garden - my god, what a crazy world we live in !!!!!
16:15 Lois and I say goodbye to
our guests and relax with a cup of tea on the couch.
For a few days, Lois has not been
thinking of anything else other than this mini-dinner party and now suddenly
it's over and she recalls that in two days she has to visit the local hospital
to have her eye surgery (although unfortunately there is still time for the
hospital to postpone it - oh dear!).
She digs out the information
pamphlets that the hospital sent her a few months ago and reads them in detail
for the first time. It is getting serious now.
Lois digs out the information about
her (hopefully) imminent eye surgery - scary
!!!!
The strange thing is that she is
most nervous about the possibility of having to be lying down on something
narrow - which often happens in hospitals. She has a bit of a phobia about
falling off, which is a bit of a surprise to me. Apart from this, she does not
seem that worried about any of it.
The hospital wants her to check
in at 8:30am on Friday. We hope I will be able to pick her up during the
afternoon. Poor Lois !!!!!
18:30 We are not hungry after our
3-course lunch, so we only nibble at a couple of pieces of toast and spend the
evening watching television. We are very tired.
20:00 A documentary is on in the
series "The World's Busiest Cities", all about the city of Moscow.
The program's hosts are Dan Snow, Anita Rani and Ade Adepitan.
Lois always knows if I'm very
tired because TV hosts always start to annoy me when I'm tired. Ade Adepitan is
black and is handicapped (in a wheelchair), so in theory I'm not allowed to
criticise him. I do not object to the fact that he is black and handicapped
(I'm all heart), but just that he does not speak proper English : his voice and
pronunciation have an echo of the black urban Londoners' dialect, which is completely
fine in everyday life but not appropriate for a television host in my opinion.
The Russians he is talking to in fact speak in fact much better English than he
does - good grief, what madness !!!
The presenter Ade Adepitan (in a wheelchair)
interviews
Russians who speak much better English than
he does - what madness !!!
An interesting program. For
example, we see the charts published by the Russian authorities after World War
II to show the minimum space (and minimum number of inches) people needed to
indulge in their everyday activities (going to bed, washing, going to the
toilet etc) so that the state could design the smallest possible apartments for
the nation's citizens. My god, what madness !!!!
The Soviet authorities
calculated the minimum space, and minimum
number of inches that people needed to
indulge in
their everyday activities (with diagrams
!!!). But nothing indecent ha ha ha.
My god - what madness !!!
Lois is very interested in the
chart showing a naked person on a bed because she has this phobia about lying
down on narrow beds, something she is worried about in connection with her
upcoming eye surgery on Friday. But unfortunately the chart on the screen only
shows statistics on the length of the bed and not about the bed's width. The
woman in the picture is 5'7 to 5'9 tall / long and the bed is 5'11 - 6'1 - so perfect
ha ha ha !!!
Lois has a phobia about
lying on a narrow bed.
Later in the program, the host
Anita Rani visits an anti-café, Ziferblat, where you can eat, drink coffee,
read, sleep, chat, dance, play cards or board games, use the library's small
library, etc., and where you only pay for the time you spend (coffee, snacks
etc are free).
The presenter Anita Rani poses a
question
revealing a typical English response to the
Moscow anti-café phenomenon !!!
Two and a half hours with free
coffee and cakes cost £4.50, so it's £1.80 per hour - not that expensive. But I
don’t see the idea catching on in Cheltenham somehow.
22:00 We go to bed – zzzzzzz!!!!!
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