Month: December 2005

The picture shows Tony on duty catching birds even on Christmas day.

Ann, Claire and Jenny were supposed to be going home today but it snowed and the Ryanair flight was diverted to Billund and nobody was about to ferry the passengers from Aarhus to Billund. So… they came back to Ramtenvej after a tortuous journey home avoiding all the hills where snow is likely to accumulate in drifts. Yes, there are hills. Fortunately Ryanair offered a free transfer but they didn’t have room until Saturday so Wiatrose and Southampton library are going to have to do without the services of the younger Burdetts while they while away the hours playing Cluedo and Kalaha here in Denmark.

The snow seems to appear every time Ann visits. You’ll all be thinking that Denmark is permanently swathed in snow from October to April at this rate!

The picture shows the Hansel and Gretel house made by Mia and Gwen from a kit bought by Anne in Germany; the gingerbread house.

A couple of days ago we took delivery of a hamper from the Chadwicks full of goodies from the UK. As we unpacked its many wonders we started musing what we would put in a Danish hamper. The list is as follows:

Lots of soused herring (curry, madiera, herb and plain vinegar flavours)

Liver postej (a sort of hot liver paste)

Dark rye bread

Danish cookies

real Danish pastry (not like the stuff you get in the UK)

liquorice

salty liquorice

typical sweets such as baby’s nappy, duck weed, ear poo and cigar butts

Various flavoured aquavits

Reisen caramels (probably not Danish but I don’t think you get them in the UK)

Please form an orderly queue!

On Tuesday Tony went down to the harbour at the bottom of the hill where he works and, with a colleague, set about catching a solitary little auk which had been reported swimming about there.

The little auk comes from Svalbard and  is very rare in Denmark but Tony reckons it is not so rare and that people just don’t notice them. Anyway he and his colleague set out to catch this one and slap a ring on it and were just about to catch it when… an angry voice sounded from the quay in Danish to the effect ‘What the hell do you think you’re doing? You know that’s illegal. I’m taking a photograph of you and I’m going to report you to the police.’

Turned out that it was an eminent naturalist from a research lab nearby and that he could be persuaded that what Tony and Ebbe were doing was legitimate. He was probably most annoyed about his chances of taking a good photograph disappearing. But it set back their capture by a long time and they finally caught it after two hours.

Back at work Tony was congratulated by his new boss for being able to act spontaneously and have fun in the face of a never-ending pile of work. (This is not tongue in cheek – it is almost a health and safety issue).

Today a major report on the welfare state in Denmark was published and occupied most of the news. Then there was a major interview with the report’s main author which for some reason Gwen wanted to watch. (Nothing to do with wanting to stay up later I’m sure).

I only had half an ear on it as I am busily trying to get four chapters written before next Thursday for a handbook on e-learning for the disabled. However at one point Gwen pipes up ‘What I don’t understand is that first they say that they want to stop people retiring because there’ll be nobody to do their jobs and then they say that the immigrants are a problem because they haven’t got any jobs!’

I honestly didn’t do or say anything to prompt this.

Today the Guardian Weekly came with an article by Jenni Russell http://www.guardian.co.uk/child/story/0,,1651342,00.html explaining why adults are so wary of engaging with children in the UK and the consequences of this. With regard to yesterday’s post I have to say that I much prefer the Danish approach than the UK approach.

When I started all this inter-cultural stuff about four years ago, I made a collection of photographs which to me epitomise Denmark. One of them is of a bonfire. The Danes say ‘Oh yes, midsummer’ but I then tell them that it means more than that. I chose the picture because to me it signifies the Danish love affair with the naked flame. A stately home near us regularly has romantic nights in the summer where they open up in the evening and the whole house is lit by candlelight as it would have been in it’s heyday. The evening is rounded off by a firework display in the grounds. No special occasion is complete without a candle, Danes had the second highest percentage of smokers in the pre-2004 EU (Greece since you ask), wood burning stoves are normal means of heating and at Christmas time there are always a few house fires due to the live candles placed on the Christmas tree. Advent candles are everywhere in shops, schools and work places, candles are placed in shop displays and torches are placed at an angle both sides of the shop entrance.

So you won’t be surprised to learn that every classroom in Gwen and Mia’s school has matches, (you never know when you will need to light a bonfire or a candle after all) and Gwen came home yesterday announcing that she will take a night light in decorative holder to school because it is allowed to have one on your desk during the school day in December and despite the fact that she is scared rigid by candles. One boy in the class has been banned from this privilege but I have mentioned him before. So he goes round blowing all the other kids candles out. … as long as that is all that he does!

While I was away in Germany, the girls watched the Junior Eurovision song contest. I am sure that you did too. And what they saw inspired Mia to think that she could do just as well. She and two of her friends have been huddling together for over a week now composing a song. And it aint easy! What should it be about? Friends, love or holidays. OK let’s go for friends. Their manager, Gwen, has been there in the background, sounding the voice of reason. ‘That’s too boring. You need another line there. Shall we write down the words so that we don’t forget?’ Unfortunately they also needed to write down or record the music and I’m afraid that a couple of cracking melodies have been lost on the drive to horse riding.

Then yesterday, an old lady visited the afterschool club and our intrepid and determined trio quizzed her about her contacts. Didn’t she know anyone who could help them with this song composing business? Well, she did know a singing teacher. ‘Who? who?’ they chorussed and it turned out to be the mother of one of their friends in the year above. So immediately Mia was on the phone organising a meeting and tomorrow they go to Daniella’s house, not to play with Daniella but to get some hot tips from Daniella’s Mum.

Meanwhile Gwen stayed up to watch a programme about champion entrepreneurs. Maybe we don’t have to worry about the pension after all.