KNOWING ABOUT THIS..

Many Europeans live in another country than the one they were born in. Either for a certain period – or during most of their life. They are normally called EXPATRIATES – or EXPATS.   You also use the name DIASPORA.   This was originally the name for Jews living outside Israel. But now it is used more generally. There are no certain figures on how many Europeans live outside their country of birth. Why? Because there is no duty to inform the authorities where you live after you leave your home country.   It is registered that you have moved out of the country. But not where you went. It is believed that more than 60 million EU citizens live in another country than their country of birth. And of them more than 15 million live in another EU member state.   This figure is reasonable precise, as EU’s statistical Office, EUROSTAT, each year collects this information from each member state and publishes it. The enclosed scheme with figures from EUROSTAT sh...

APRIL 28: Belgium has last Friday adopted a plan on how to open up society after the corona lockdown. It will happen step by step. Here are the main points ( as I have understood them ): From Monday, May 4: 1.       Opening of fabric stores and haberdashery – given the importance they will play in relation to the protections covering nose and mouth 2.       Possibility to have physical activities outdoor – now together with max. two other persons – in addition to people from your own household 3.       Possibility to take part in certain sports activities such as tennis, athletics, fishing and golf ( only outdoor ) 4.       All other rules and limitations remain in force From Monday, May 11: 1.       Most shops may reopen – whatever size they have.   It has to happen under certain conditions ( social distance, limited num...

APRIL 27: Today it is 40 days since the lockdown in Belgium started.   It was on March 18. It has been – and still is – a very strict lockdown. And it has also been managed very systematically.   It has now to some extent given the intended results. The number of infected people in hospitals is going down, and so is the number of deaths.   At the same time the testing has been very active – and it will be further strengthend in the near future.  Yesterday the main figures were: Total number of infected:     46.134 Total number of cured:            9.800 Total number of deaths:          7.094   ( of which more than half happened in the Nursing Homes ) Many people ask:   Why are the figures so relatively high in Belgium compared to other countries, esp. in the number of deaths? I do not have a full reply.   The Belgi...

LANGUAGES:  We need and enjoy using one or more languages every day. In my own case my first language was Cimbrian - the dialect spoken in my home region in the North of Denmark. It was only when I started in school I learned my first "foreign language", Danish.   It wasn't that difficult.  I knew it from the radio...     Later on more languages have been added. One of them was Russian . I had to study it at my university, because I in my main study in political science was dealing with Soviet-Finnish Relations 1944-68.  So I had to be able to read what the Russians were up to - also in their own language.  Later on I have unfortunately almost forgotten it.  But it is one of the nicest languages I know of! There are about 6.500 different languages in the world. 23 of them are spoken by half of the population of the world. The biggest language in the world in Mandarin .  About 2.000 of the languages are each spoken by less than 1.000 p...

CORONA DEVELOPMENT Short daily overview based on official figures ( Inf.=infected; Dea= deaths;  EU ( EU + EEA + UK ) EUROPEAN CENTRE FOR DISEASE PREVENTION AND CONTROL: https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/cases-2019-ncov-eueea   DANISH NATIONAL POLICE WEB SITE: https://politi.dk/corona   DATE:      WORLD INF.     WORLD DEA.    EU INF.  EU DEA   DK INF.  DK  DEA.   B INF.   B  DEA. 19.04.:    2.281.714           159.511        926.333      96.779     7.384     355        38.496    5.683                 +4%           ...

Yesterday I wrote about my own Danish tribe, the CIMBRIANS . And about their huge migration to the south more than a hundred years BC.  This migration was part of what has been normal during history. Not only for my tribe - but almost for all tribe.  People have always migrated. Starting 30.000 years ago out of Ethiopia . We all come from there.   After the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century lots of people started moving. And for many reasons. Wars, hunger, draughts, floods, attacks from outside ( such as the Huns ), etc.  The Anglo-Saxon invation of England in the years from 410-825 was one of them.  Germanic people coming from present day Germany (Sachsen), Angel and the Freasians. Some people from my home region. Himmerland, joined in too. They were called Jutes.   They settled in particular in Kent in the South-East of England.  See more here:    https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=Ka60jZwZdAk   Later the VIKINGS...

I have many times been asked by many of you where I find interesting PROVERBS.   There are, of course, many useful and reliable sources.   One of the most interesting I have found and used is this one: https://lemongrad.com/proverbs-with-meanings-and-examples/   It has 150 English proverbs with meaning and examples.   Have a good look at it.   You will certainly recognise a lot of them. Others you probably do not know. If you want more you have this collection of 680 English proverbs – even with a search engine: https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/proverbs.html Another good source is COLLINS’ ENGLISH THESAURUS.   They write themselves about their service: Our Collins English Thesaurus is a comprehensive, trustworthy and easy-to-use online resource, and has been researched and written by experienced lexicographers from across the globe and reflects all varieties of world English. Whether simply for the love of words, ...

Today I want to write about how I think our daily life will change, also after the present corona virus. Most of us are thinking about that, probably. One thing is certain:   we will see changes. The question is which ones.   I will today suggest 4 areas.   And at the end make 2 concrete proposals. SHOPPING:   I believe that we more than before will do our shopping on the internet. Most of us have got used to that during the crisis. And many shops, restaurants, etc. have moved in that direction. You can say that now comes the time when we not only use Amazon and other big web shops more – we also give them real competition.   Our supermarkets here in Belgium all offer on-line shopping. In most cases you have to pick up the goods yourself ( in a special part of the supermarket ). The Belgian Post Office started some time ago a service offering to pick up and deliver what you had bought on-line in different shops.   This service did not really ta...

APRIL 21: The next EU Summit about the ongoing corona crisis takes place on Thursday, April 23. And due to the situation it will also this time take place as videoconference. This means that each of the 27 heads of state and government and the presidents of the European Council and of the EU Commission are participating from their own offices through a secure video link. This has been tried several times during the crisis this year. And also the “normal” meetings in the EU Council of Ministers under Croatian presidency take place in this way, also this week. My strong feeling is that video summits and video ministerial meetings will be normal in the future, also when the present crisis is over. The participants save a lot of time; they are efficient – on the condition that they are managed properly; many security measures and their costs are avoided, and the problems for the traffic, not least in Brussels, are avoided too. They are also good for the climate due to less air...

All is culture - and culture is everything.   This is what many people say and think.  I will now and then present sides of Belgian culture, which you might know or not know. Today I will start by telling about a famous Belgian . His name is ADOLPHE SAX. He libed in the years 1814-94. And why is he famous? Because he invented the SAXOPHONE . A very special instrument, even revolutionary at the time of its invention. Today it is known, used and appreciated all over the world. Below see photos of the inventor and of one of his own saxophones.  Very nice work, indeed! A bit about himself:  He was born in the Belgian town of Dinant in the Ardennes - at the Meuse river. His parents were both instrument makers, so young Adolphe ( he was one of their 11 kids ) walked around their workshop and got ideas. When he was 15, he had made a number of instruments, which were presented on an important exhibition. He was about to win the first prize.  But the commit...

Today I want to write about solidarity – or rather about lack of solidarity. As we all know Greece has at the moment about 50.000 refugees, many of them on some of the Greek islands near the Turkish coast. And more are arriving all the time. The help to Greece from the other EU countries is unfortunately still very small when relocation of these refugees is concerned. There is – despite several initiatives – no agreement on the distribution of the refugees. EU is helping Greece with economic aid.   But it is – in my view – highly regrettable that the solidarity with the Greeks and with the refugees is so low among other EU member states.   The EU Commission will in the near future make a new proposal on how to solve the problem. Some of the thousands of refugees are minors – under 18 years old. And many of the minors are unaccompanied by parents or others. They are there on their own.   UN’s refugee authorities and UNICEF have for some time made the world aw...

It is always good to learn more.   We definitely like it 😊 That is why we now for seven years just after our breakfast have read and discussed questions and answers from a special French calendar – called Almaniac. Each year’s edition has 365 questions and answers. A new one each day. And not just 2-3 lines, but two full pages.  There are many Almaniacs to choose from each year. In 2018 we selected one called POURQUOI?   WHY.   About all sorts of interesting topics. In 2019 our choice was:   365 PROOFS ON HOW THE WORLD GETS BETTER.    And this year, 2020, we have chosen CULTURE GÈNÈRALE – Culture in general.   For French people everything is culture. So, we are dealing with lots of different topics from all aspects of life.   This is great.   And as it is all in French it also gives us the opportunity to improve our relationship to the mother tongue of Molière and Macron! We are – as we all know – right now unfortunately l...