"Should I put the Kettle on?"

    This is the informal way of saying "are you staying?" in British.  Making a pot of tea is the traditional thing to do when you have company: pull out the fine china, the Earl Gray, and maybe set out some biscuits (cookies) for good measure.  And for a nation that drinks almost 200 million cups of tea a day, you can imagine how common of a phrase this actually is.
   Today in class, Lyndon taught us the proper way to make a pot of England's favourite beverage  (beer is a close second).  You start by warming the pot- pour a little boiling water in and just swish it around. This ensures that when you pour the actual water for the tea in it doesn't immediately cool down.  Once the pot is warmed, you add the actual tea leaves.  The rule of thumb is one teaspoon for each person, and then one for the pot.  This way you're guaranteed enough for everyone and there will always be some left for a refresher.
    Then you add the boiling water and stir.  When pouring you use a strainer that rests on the edge of the cup; this will filter out any leaves.  Now it gets interesting (or as interesting as making tea gets).  The typical additions are milk, sugar, honey, and lemon.  And what you put in your tea can actually say a lot about you.  For instance, it's still seen as middle class to add your milk first.  This is a holdover from when china was rare and you didn't want it cracking by pouring the hot tea first.  While the upper-class would either have fine china that wouldn't break, or enough replacements not to care.
   Then again, 95% of the tea drank today is made with teabags.  So this traditional process is becoming more and more of a lost art.  And I can't ever see Americans giving up their Starbucks for more work and less caffeine.  I personally will stick with Diet Coke!