tea

after a lifetime of saying 'NO' to that quintessentially english hot beverage, that answer to all life's woes*; after years of insulting its taste-lessness; after too many cups of coffee (instead), i have finally succumbed the infamous CUP of TEA. It started off with as merely something to warm me up with slightly lower caffeine levels than beloved coffee. That was 2008. And now, 2009, i have had at least one cup every day. I feel slightly ashamed, for abandoning that small collective who continue to reject the staple of an Englishman's diet. I don't plan to become dependent. I don't plan to start drinking 10 cups a day. I'm still not even sure I'd say i LIKE it. But, I am drinking it. Right now. I knew fourth year at university would do this to me. And thanks to too many friends who are way too into a good brew, a can make an OK cup of tea (am i thankful for this?). I'm still kind of hoping it'll just be a winter/university thing. We'll see when June comes...


*Tea is still believed, by English people of all classes, to have miraculous properties. A cup of tea can cure, or at least significantly alleviate, almost all minor physical ailments and indispositions, from a headache to a scraped knee. Tea is also an essential remedy for all social and psychological ills, from a bruised ego to the trauma of a divorce or bereavement. This magical drink can be used equally effectively as a sedative or stimulant, to calm and soothe or revive and invigorate. Whatever your mental or physical state, what you need is 'a nice cup of tea'. (Kate Fox, 'watching the english' p.312)