This year it has been 10 years since I graduated from high school in Tønder – wow, time indeed flies.
The image above is from Christmas ’99, six month after we graduated where we gathered 22 of the 24 or so from our class. During the past 10 years we have usually tried to meet up for a dinner every year between Christmas and New Year but as people got partners and children, we have seen fewer people turn up for these events. The past couple of years we have usually been less than 10 for the dinners. So as this was the 10th year since we graduated some of us talked and some worked (Helene) to organize a dinner for all of us during the annual Tønder Festival.
To those of you who are not from Tønder, this is one of the bigger folk music festivals. The festival itself takes place in big tents on a meadow outside the town but as the population of the town triples or quadruples over this weekend the whole town is bustling with happy people, musicians and vendors trying to make a buck and many come here for the party more than the music.
Last weekend I went back to Denmark to stayed with my parents for a couple of days and catch up with my old class mates in Tønder. We met up at one of the many beer stands and started out catching up.
15 people showed up and everybody there looked liked themselves. Maybe a bit rounder and with a few more wrinkles around the eyes but when everybody was there it was like yesterday we would go to class and hang out afterwards. The old jokes and friendly teasing was on from the beginning – just like in the old days. Some things just never change. Others do. My two partners in crime during those years were now recent-father and father-to-be and their past enthusiastic conversations of Mercedes S-class, Audis and other high-octane topics were replaced by discussions of titanium baby strollers and which brands strollers was the easiest to dismantle. The vehicle had changed while the rest of the conversation was still the same, it was still the two “drengerøve”* having a passionated debate 🙂
It is not the easiest job to find a table for 15 people on Saturday of the festival but with the right connections we had managed to get a table in the festival’s restaurant Fiddlers’ Green. We spent a couple of hours there hearing what people were up to now and just having a good time. Most of us are done with our education and we have spread out to all walks of life all over Denmark (and beyond).
After dinner we went to our regular Friday afternoon retreat Cafe Victoria for a nightcap. 10 years ago I would have probably stayed out, gotten too drunk, lost my glasses and slept in a green house because I couldn’t find my friend’s house. This year I went to bed before 2 am on my designated bed well knowing where I put my glasses. I think I’m getting old – and that’s not too bad 🙂
