Since returning to the US, I have been told time and time again that I have picked up an English accent. Although this was never my intention and I wish I could swap back instantly to a native Californian accent upon arrival, it doesn't surprise me greatly. There are two reasons for this, at least.
First, my husband is English. Not only that, but he likes the difference of my non-English accent and so enjoys teasing me when I say things like garr-den, Robin Hood, and, as recently as ten minutes ago Ber-nard (instead of Ber-nard). I love my husband dearly, but I hate being teased, and so I have learned to say Robin Hood, though I still pronounce the 'r' in garden, and clearly haven't worked out how to say Bernard.
Which brings me, in a way, to a second thing: my use of British expressions, liked 'worked out' (something we do more in the gym than in our heads here) instead of 'figured out', which is what I would have said in 1999. I confess that that expression is just habit--you hear it enough, and you start to say it. But there are other expressions that are so economical. 'Anything you want washing?' just takes fewer words than 'is there anything you want me to wash?' Of course, now I can't think of another... But sentence construction in general is essential to being understood. So here in the States, I am finding I have to rearrange my words, put them back in American order, and then inflect them properly. Or, hang on, should I say 'correctly' rather than 'properly'? Obviously I have been away too long.
Coming home (sort of--South Bend, IN, isn't Manhattan Beach, CA!), I find it strange that I enjoy things I never really missed. Who would have thought a Notre Dame football game would make me feel at home so profoundly? And NPR. I used to sometimes poke fun at the way topics were presented on programs like 'Fresh Air' (I had already gotten used to the way British journalists interview: no mercy!). But the sound of a familiar voice on the radio is oddly soothing.
I loved living in England, and I expect to return to England when our time at Notre Dame is over. By then, however, I do hope I'll have to remember to say "sorry" when Americans would say "excuse me" or, well, a whole host of other things. I'll probably never sound completely American again (see above re: husband), but I'm not likely ever to forget where I came from.
