It’s funny, when you live abroad you hear all sorts of comments that you don’t know how to take. My favorite is: “You don’t sound American.” Taxi drivers, store owners, waiters and all sorts of people say this to me. To which I will dutifully reply, Oh, I am and then have to go on to explain where Cincinnati, Ohio is on the map. (Near Chicago is the most recognizable option.) Inevitably, the person will then reply “really, I always guess where people are from and never would have thought that you were American” and then go on to tell me where they assumed I was from. Typically, these options include the UK, Canada, Australia or France. It’s as if they think by telling me I sound like I am from England, that I will then admit, yes, you’re right. I am English. I was just kidding about the being an American thing.
I can never decide if I am being complimented that I don’t sound like a horrible American or if it’s more of a reprimand that I don’t sound like all those other wonderful Americans. Or, do I need to now apologize for fooling them with my accent? It’s kinda funny. One of my Swedish coworkers used to tell me that she liked me “because you’re not loud like other Americans.” And she did go on to tell me that she meant that as a compliment.
{ 2 comments }
someone really thought you are from France ???
fantastic, take it with a laugh 🙂
H, Sandra! I come from Baltimore (otherwise known as Bawlmer, in Merlin) and when I was 12 we moved to Manila. People – including Americans! – made so much fun of my accent (Bawlmerese is simply atrocious!) that I quickly got rid of it and adopted what I hope is a generic American.
Later when we moved to Tokyo, my mom became quite good at speaking Japanese. She would talk to the local people in Japanese and some would look at her and say, “But I don’t understand English!”. They saw a white face and could not fathom that she was actually speaking Japanese. Similarly, when a friend who was second generation Japanese, born in the US, spoke English in Tokyo, people would invaribly speak Japanese back. He LOOKED Japanese and should therefore SPEAK Japanese!
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