Promenades …

'Today is the last night of the proms', the llama says.

'Tonight', I whisper.

'WHAAAT?' the animal shouts.

'Never mind', I whisper.

'Poor American teenagers', the llama says. 'No more proms.'

'American teenagers?' I ask. 'What do American teenagers have to do with the Last Night of the Proms?'

'Come on, dude', the animal says. 'Don't you watch American TV series? Every popular American TV series has at least one episode about a prom night. You know? A prom like in a formal social event – usually a dance – generally held near the end of the last two years of high school in the United States of America. Last night of the proms means no more fancy dresses, no more tuxedos, no more flower bouquets, no more limos and no more hard alcohol in the fruit punchbowl.'

'Oh, I see', I say. 'Those are not the Proms we are talking about when we are talking about the Last Night of the Proms.'

'Whaaat?' the llama says. 'There is more than one kind of proms?'

'Tonight is the Last Night of the Proms', I say. 'The Proms is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hall in central London, Great Britain. Prom is short for Promenade Concert, a term which originally referred to outdoor concerts in London's pleasure gardens, where the audience was free to stroll around while the orchestra was playing. The Last Night is the last concert of this season. The concert is traditionally in a lighter, 'winding-down' vein, with popular classics followed by a second half of British patriotic pieces. Visitors of this concert the so-called Prommers often wear funny hats and wave flags while moving, singing and dancing to the songs. You should watch the online videos of this event.'

The animal hurries up from the couch and graps the laptop. After five minutes of watching a video online it returns to the living room.

'No', the llama says. 'Those are not the proms I was thinking about. And American teenagers from highschool have nothing to do with that.'

'Don't be sad', I say, 'there will be new Proms and a new Last Night next year.'

'Rule Britannia!' the llama says waving a blue European flag with yellow stars.

Today is Saturday, the 14th of September 2019.