Afternoon Tea at Fornum & Mason

I booked a spot for Afternoon Tea at the famed St. James restaurant in Fortnum & Mason, London.



Here's what the confirmation message said (emphasis added):

"Fortnum & Mason St. James Restaurant is delighted to confirm your reservation. Please make your way to the 4th floor on arrival to the store. Our dress code is smart casual and we ask that gentlemen wear long trousers and closed-toe shoes and that both sexes lean more towards elegance than the beach.... We look forward to welcoming you to the St. James Restaurant in Fortnum & Mason. With kind regards..."

This is great. I would say it's quintessentially British, but something tells me that Afternoon Tea nowadays is more of an elaborately constructed trap for affluent foreign tourists (or, in my case, ex-students with Fathers on business trips) than a long-standing British tradition.

Oh, well. It's nice to have Fathers on business, even if it means I'll be on my own most of the time. At least we'll have Afternoon Tea.

e-mail sucks sometimes

I hate modern communication sometimes because it makes it so hard to determine tone of voice. I don't know if an e-mail reply somebody sent me suggests he is annoyed with me or angry or being short with me or none of the above. And I'm a pretty neurotic and self-conscious person who seeks approval a lot so not knowing bothers me a lot.

*GASP*

Mugglenet, how could you?!!

Then again, isn't it great to know that even after publication of all seven books, the discussion continues? I love Harry Potter so much it really scares me sometimes, but I am nonetheless happy to be immersed in such a phenomenon. Other generations had Star Wars and Star Trek... for us, it's HP and 100000 times better.

~

In other news, still working on this dratted paper. My stomach hurts from all the junk food I've consumed, but what else is new...