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March 24, 2006
Tom McEwan
Once you've done it, you have a different view of what the strangest thing is about moving to a different country. Not learning the language (although, for me, Danish is hard enough). Not even lack of easy access to childhood foodstuffs (Marmite can be bought at Abigail's). No, it's the huge void in your cultural background that shows up whenever anything or anyone of historical significance hoves into view.
I often take "breakfast" (well, what else can you call the first meal of the day, even if it is at 2pm?) at "Croissanten" on Frederiksborggade. On Tuesday, I ordered a cheese slice and a café au lait, as usual. I reached for my wallet. Not there. The usual slap test (all pockets, then the forehead) turned up nothing. Conclusion: I'd either dropped the wallet on the bus - I know I had it when I got on, because it had my DSB travel card in it - or some light-fingered person had relieved me of it. After I'd phoned the bus company to see if they'd found it (no luck), and after phoning the bank to cancel my cards, the good people at "Croissanten" gave me a credit for the pastry and coffee and lent me 20 Dkk for the bus fare to work (I paid them back the next day).
Yesterday, one of the servers who'd helped me out asked if I'd found the wallet or heard anything, and the only other customer, an elderly guy, started chatting in English. I could immediately hear that he was English, so I started talking to him in English. After a brief chat about what brought me to Denmark and what work I did, I asked him. Before he could answer, the girl behind the counter said "He's one of our best children's TV presenters!". I think he was simultaneously pleased and a bit embarrassed! The guy's name is Tom McEwan. He came to Denmark 35 years ago, and through a succession of jobs (including washing cars in Silkeborg, in Jutland) ended up teaching English in Copenhagen and playing drums in some bands (one of which, I have just found out, was the nascent Gasolin', one of Denmark's most successful bands of the 70's). Somehow, this turned into a stint in television and film, which is where most Danes under the age of 35 know him from. For my edification, he jotted down some names of songs and shows on a napkin, which I have in front of me: "Nu er det ikke sjovt længere" ("It's not funny any more" - a TV show) - "Fy Fy Skamme Skamme" (no idea how to translate, but it's a song which almost everyone in Denmark except me knows) and "Ude på noget" ("Up to something", another show, with Tom playing the part of Polle, alongside famous actress Ghita Nørby, playing Ruth).
I showed the napkin to J, who was very impressed - I guess for Brits it the equivalent of bumping into Geoffrey from Rainbow, and getting him to jot down some songs that he did with Freddie and Jane ...
Tom will be playing drums during in this year's Copenhagen Jazz Festival, and often pops up in plays around town (I only remembered afterwards that I'd seen him in "Waiting for Godot" at Krudttønden).
Posted by daen at March 24, 2006 11:40 PM