Saturday January 4 2020

I still lack energy since I had one of my top teeth pulled out on Thursday, so I decide to miss the shower I had planned. And I try to take it as easy as possible this morning - at 11 am I have to drive over to Oxford.

Lois' niece Sharon has invited us for lunch and we hope also to meet some of Lois's massive bunch of other relatives over there: Sharon and her partner Michael and their 4 children, Ian (Lois's nephew) and his partner Tasha and their 7 children, including their eldest, Aidan, as well as Aidan's partner Beth and their 2 children - a total of 18 souls - yikes !!!!

Lois has bought Christmas presents for them all - she is so warm-hearted ha ha ha!

08:00 I sit down with the computer and browse through my latest emails and I get a bit of a shock, to put it mildly.

First, I read that our daughter Sarah, who lives in Ocean Reef, one of Perth's northern suburbs with Francis and their 6-year-old twins Lily and Jessie, has decided to move to a new rental home 30 miles away out in the country, at Lower Chittering.

A little unexpected maybe, but a good time to move perhaps, because in Australia, the school year starts in February after the "summer break", so the twins can get a fresh start in a new school next month. Lois and I have discovered that when it is winter in England, it is summer in Australia – my goodness, what a crazy planet we live on !!!!!

pictures of the new rental house that I copied

from the real estate agent’s website

Secondly, I see I’ve received an email from Kathy, my friend in Washington State. I got to know Kathy when we were both students in Tokyo in 1970-71, a sweet, funny young woman, then 20 years old. We were both surrounded every day by Japanese students and Japan's incredibly alien oriental culture, and it was very relaxing for me to hang out with Kathy occasionally to share "western" jokes and our common cultural references and the like.

The 12 months in Tokyo was a truly unique year in my life, to put it mildly, very exciting but also very difficult and lonely at times, and I have always been very grateful to Kathy for making it all that much easier and more fun.

Kathy says in her email that she plans to visit England in July with her daughter Alexandra and Alexandra's husband and 2 daughters and she wants to meet up with Lois and me. It will be amazing to see her again after so long. I can hardly wait!

flashback to 1971: me with my friend, Kathy,

two foreign students in Japan: happy days !!!!

Kathy today (right)

11:00 We drive over to Oxford. I'm a little apprehensive about my lack of energy, and I bring a thermos of coffee and a couple of bananas in the car in case I get a “nasty turn” on the road, and we have to stop - yikes! But I'm determined to drive Lois over there, if possible - she rarely sees her relatives in Oxford unfortunately, and I know how important it is to her.

And when it comes down to it, I'm totally okay with both the driving, the visiting, and the driving back in the evening. And I feel a bit like Santa as I wander into Sharon's house with 6 giant bags in my hands, stuffed with altogether 18 Christmas presents - yikes, good grief!

The mood in Sharon's house is completely chaotic, as always, but in a good way - I try to get the kids together for a group photo, but I finally have to give up - too much chaos. And they keep the television on all the time, as always, which is a little distracting to put it mildly.

We hand over our Christmas presents to them, and receive a lot back in return - mostly alcohol again, which always makes Lois a little disappointed: she is non-drinker, but her relatives always forget this, which is a bit of a shame.

I tell Lois later that she can keep all the other gifts for herself: the chocolate and the biscuits and the like, and I’ll "just" keep the alcohol ha ha ha!

(from left to right) Tasha (Ian's partner), Ian (Lois's nephew), little May, little Harrison, 

Michael (Sharon's partner), Sharon (Lois' niece), "little" Lois and Lily Rose

17:30 Lois and I come home and later we grab a snack as our dinner. We feel completely exhausted and spend the rest of the evening watching some television, the last episode ever of "The Fast Show," a sketch show from the 1990’s, with a surprising cameo appearance by world-famous movie star Johnny Depp at the end of the show.

We see a lot of favourite sketches, including the beloved "Chris the Crafty Cockney" sketch, which is nice.

Very nostalgic !!!

Nostalgic also to see the two "Suits You Sir" tailors for the last time, along with Johnny Depp, who we see looking to buy a traditional English suit.

Happy days !!!!

21:00 We continue to watch some television, an interesting episode in the second season of an archaeological series on Channel 5, "Digging Up Britain's Past". The programme's two charming hosts are Raksha Dave and Alex Langlands.

This episode is all about the excavation of Silchester, a massive Roman city first discovered in the 19th century, but covered up again by the original archaeologists to preserve it for future generations.

Tonight we see the re-excavation of the original Roman bathhouse, which is very impressive to put it mildly. But for Lois and me, most interesting thing is the fact that the city, despite its size - it must have been one of the largest cities in the country at the time - had completely vanished within 200 years after the Romans left Britain.

Why did Silchester just vanish, when most other Roman towns such as York, Gloucester, Lincoln etc remained? 

The answer is that Silchester was founded and continued to grow and grow, precisely because it was at the intersection of several major Roman roads. The town had no intrinsic, essential importance in itself - it was not adjacent to a river, and it was not close to any important sources of wealth: mines, quarries or suchlike. 

That's why, in the later stages of the Roman era, when the Romans began to lack the money to maintain their roads, and the roads became less and less used, the city of Silchester began to die.

Alex Langlands, one of the programme's two charming hosts,

stands on the old Roman road leading west from Silchester to

Old Sarum, an old Iron Age fortification near Salisbury

Alex meets up with Dr Hannah-Marie Chidwick, a charming

Roman historian from Bristol University, who explains Silchester's 

strategic location at the intersection of several important Roman roads.

But the city had no importance other than being a major intersection,

and that’s why the city began to die as soon the Romans started to lack the money

to maintain the country's roads - "simples" !!!!

Very nostalgic for Lois and me, because we visited the excavations ourselves back in 2005, just before we retired.

Flashback to 2005: Lois and I visit the ancient Roman city of

Silchester, and also see the city's old amphitheatre

- happy days !!!!

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

Danish translation: lørdag den 4. januar 2020

Jeg mangler stadig energi, siden jeg fik én af mine øverste tænder udtrukket, så beslutter jeg at gå glip af det brusebad, jeg havde planlagt. Og jeg prøver at tage det så rolig som muligt i formiddagen – kl 11 skal jeg kører over til Oxford. Lois’ niece Sharon har inviteret os til frokost og vi håber at mødes med nogle af Lois’ massive flok af slægtninge derover: Sharon og hendes partner Michael og deres 4 børn, Ian (Lois’ nevø) og hans partner Tasha og deres 7 børn, inklusive deres ældste, Aidan, samt Aidans partner Beth og deres 2 børn – sammenlagt 18 sjæle – yikes!!!!  Lois har købt julegaver til dem alle – hun er så varmhjertet ha ha ha!

08:00 Jeg sætter mig med computeren og blader igennem mine seneste e-mails, og jeg får lidt af en chok, for at sige mildt.

For det første læser jeg, at vores datter Sarah, der bor i Ocean Reef, én af byen Perths nordlige forstæder, sammen med Francis og deres 6-årige tvillinger Lily og Jessie, har besluttet at flytte til et nyt lejehus 30 miles væk ude på landet, i Lower Chittering. Lidt uforventet måske, men en god tid til at flytte måske, fordi i Australien begynder skoleåret i februar efter ”sommerpausen”, så kan tvilingerne få en frisk start i en ny skole næste måned. Lois og jeg har opdaget, at når det er vinter i England, er det sommer i Australien - du godeste, sikke en skør planet vi lever på!!!!!

billeder af det nye lejehus, som jeg kopierede

af ejendomsmæglerens websted

For det andet, ser jeg at jeg har fået en e-mail fra Kathy, min ven i Washington-delstaten. Jeg lærte Kathy at kende, da vi begge var studerende i Tokyo i 1970-71, en sød, morsom ung kvinde på 20 år. Vi var begge to omgivet hver dag af japanske studerende og Japans utroligt fremmed orientalske kultur, og det var meget afslappende for mig at kunne hænge ud med Kathy af og til for at dele ”vestlige” vittigheder og vores fælles kulturale referencer og den slags. De 12 måneder i Tokyo var et helt unikt år i mit liv, for at sige mildt, meget vanskeligt og ensomt fra tid til anden, og jeg er altid blevet meget taknemmelig til Kathy for at gøre det hele så meget nemmere og sjovere.

Kathy siger i sin e-mail, at hun planlægger at besøge England i juli sammen med sin datter Alexandra og Alexandras mand og 2 døtre, og hun har lyst til at mødes med Lois og mig. Det vil været fantastisk at se hende igen efter så lang tid. Jeg kan næsten ikke vente!

tilbageblik til 1971: mig med min ven, Kathy,

som to udenlandske studerende i Japan: lykkelige dage!!!!

Kathy i dag (til højre)

11:00 Vi kører over til Oxford. Jeg er lidt betænkelig over min mangel på energi, og jeg tager en termos kaffe og et par banan med i bilen for det tilfælde, at jeg får en ildebefindende på vejen – yikes! Men jeg er fast besluttet på at køre Lois derover, hvis muligt – hun ser desværre meget sjældent sine slægtninge i Oxford, og jeg ved hvor vigtigt det er for hende.

Og når det kommet til stykket har jeg det helt okay både under kørslen, under besøget, og under kørslen tilbage om aftenen. Og jeg føler mig lidt som julemanden, da jeg vakler ind i huset med 6 poser i hånden, proppede med 18 julegave – yikes, du godeste!

Stemningen i Sharons hus er helt kaotisk, som altid, men i en god måde – jeg prøver at samle børnene til et gruppefoto, men det skal jeg endelig opgive  - for meget kaos. Og de holder fjerrnsynet tændt hele tiden, som altid, hvilket er lidt distraherende for at sige mildt.

Vi overbringer julegaverne, og modtager en masse på gengæld – for det meste alkohol, hvilket altid gør Lois lidt skuffet: hun er et afholdsmenneske, men dette glemmer hendes slægtninge altid, hvilket er lidt af en skam.

Jeg fortæller Lois senere, at hun kan holde alle de andre gaver for sig selv: chokoladen og kiks og den slags, og jeg vil ”bare” holde alkoholen ha ha ha!

(fra venstre til højre) Tasha (Ians partner), Ian, May, Harrison, 

Michael (Sharons partner), Sharon (Lois’ niece), ”lille” Lois og Lily Rose

17:30 Lois og jeg kommer hjem og senere snupper vi en snak til aftermaden. Vi føler os helt udmattede og bruger resten af aftenen på at se lidt fjernsyn, det sidste afsnit nogensinde af ”The Fast Show”, en sketchshow fra 1990’erne, med en overraskende cameo-optræden af den verdenskendte filmstjerne Johnny Depp ved slutningen af showet.

Vi ser en masse yndlings-sketches, inklusive den elskede ”Christ the Crafty Cockney”-sketch, hvilket er rart.

Meget nostalgisk!!!

Nostalgisk også at se for sidste gang de to skræddere, sammen med Johnny Depp, der interesserer sig for at købe et traditionelt engelsk jakkesæt.

Lykkelige dage!!!!

21:00 Vi fortsætter med at se lidt fjernsyn, et interessant afsnit i den 2. sæson af en arkæologisk serie på Channel 5, ”Digging Up Britain’s Past”. Programmets to charmerende værter er Raksha Dave og Alex Langlands.

Dette afsnit handler om udgravningen af Silchester, en massiv romersk by først opdaget i det 19. århundrede, men dækket over igen af de oprindelige arkæologer for at bevare den for fremtidige generationer.

I aften ser vi genudgravningen af det oprindelige romerske badehus, hvilket er meget imponerende for at sige mildt. Men for Lois og mig er det meste interessante det faktum, at byen, på trods af sin størrelse – det må dengang have været én af de største byer i landet – var fuldstændigt forsvundet indenfor 200 år efter romerne forlod Britannien.

Silchester blev grundlagt og fortsatte med at vokse og voke større og større, præcis på grund af, at den lå på vejkrydset af flere større romerske veje. Byen havde ikke noget indre, væsentlig vigtighed i sig selv – det lå ikke ved siden af en flod, og det var ikke tæt på nogle vigtige kilder af rigdom: miner, stenbrud og den slags. Så i de senere faser af den romerske æra, da romerne begyndte at mangle penge til at vedligeholde vejene og vejene blev mindre og mindre brugt, begyndte byen Silchester at dø.

Alex Langlands, én af programmets to charmerende vært,

står på den gamle romerske vej, der førte vestpå fra Silchester til

Old Sarum, en gamle jernaldersfastningsværk i nærheden af Salisbury

Alex mødes med Dr Hannah-Marie Chidwick, en charmerende

romersk-historiker fra Bristol University,

der forklarer Silchesters strategiske beliggenhed

ved vejkrydset af flere vigtige romerske veje.

Men byen havde ikke anden vigtighed, end at være et stort vejkryds,

og derfor døde byen, da romerne begyndte at mangle penge

til at vedligeholde landets veje – ”simples” !!!!

Meget nostalgisk for Lois og mig, fordi vi besøgte Silchester-udgravningen i 2005, lige før vi gik på pension.

Tilbageblik til 2005: Lois og jeg besøger den gamle romerske by

Silchester, og ser også byens gamle amfiteater

- lykkelige dage!!!!

22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzzzzz!!!!