I'm originally
from Copenhagen, but now I live with my English wife, Caroline,
in London. I work at the world famous hospitals St Thomas' &
Guy's as a consultant orthopaedic
surgeon. My special field is treating patients with
hand, elbow and shoulder problems. I am also an associated
professor in hand surgery in Sweden where most of my research is
carried out.
My wife and I met on holiday in the
former Yugoslavia. We married a year later, although
we'd actually only seen each other for a total of a few weeks.
We lived in Sweden while I finished my doctorate at a Swedish
university.
In Sweden you have to defend your thesis in public and answer
questions both from the professors and the public. Anyone can
ask questions on the contení of the
published topic. It is like being cross-examined in
court and it goes on for hours. It can be very stressful.
Our son, Sebastian, was born in Sweden. After that we came to
live in England. He's six now and although English is his first
language, I'm proud to say that he speaks some Danish too. I
hope that by visiting his cousins in Denmark this
may improve. However, the
children in Denmark learn English from a very early age, and I
fear he will be speaking English with them instead.
I've been fortunate to get
promoted quickly. Of course I'm good at what I do and I work
very hard too, but being in the right place at the right time
helps. "It's better to be lucky than clever" they say, so I try
to be both! I also suspect that one secret of my
success is my Danish accent.
British people seem to really like it, especially the patients.
I'm sure I get more respect than if I spoke with a perfect
accent. |