Dreaming with an Accent

I don't think of myself as having an accent. It's bizarre to me to think I do when I sound 'normal' but being in another country and culture, even it it's English-speaking, has made me aware. All I have to do is open my mouth and BAM!, it's as if the word 'American' is stamped on my forehead. When I pull out my camera and map, the word 'tourist' smacks me from behind.

I've tried to hide the fact I'm a tourist by discreetly pulling my map out to see where I need to go or just acting like I now where I'm going, even if I'm not so sure. Looking around though, I'm among tons of other tourists who are as clueless and adventure-bound as I, so I have no shame in my temporary title. I honor them both, American Flag in one hand and camera in the other with arms stretched wide to embrace all that the UK and Ireland have to offer.

I was warned I might pick up an accent while I'm here and I have already, but sadly it's only in my dreams. These past few nights I’ve realized all the people speaking in my dreams have had English accents – even me! I can hear the pronunciations in my head and feel the inflections tickle my ears, but when I go to speak – reality hits and I wake up. The only other time this happened to me was when I was in Austria visiting my pen pal. I didn't know any German but was surrounded by it constantly. It seeped into my dreams so I had no clue what was being said. I was as frustrated asleep as I was awake!

So far I have picked up a few words out of necessity like using ‘toilet’ or ‘loo’ for ‘restroom’ and ‘takeaway’ for ‘to go’ or ‘take out’. A word I recently heard that I like is ‘wonky’ which I believe means crazy, up in the air, or unsettled. What I especially like to hear are the English accents - how they say the words. There’s such an element of grace and dignity that seem to boost their I.Q. ten points, even the children.

As I was leaving my B&B today in Bath to go to London, the owner’s four year old son was talking to me as I was paying my bill. When I told him I saw where some of the Harry Potter movies were filmed, he went on telling me how much he liked ‘airy paw-uh’ (Harry Potter with a London accent).

Through my travels so far, I’ve heard many accents and languages, but nothing brings my heart instantly home like an American accent. I’ve been surprised at just how many Americans are out-and-about traveling. I was in a store looking around when I overheard a man talking to his family, obviously from the US. When they mentioned California, I turned and struck up a conversation. It turns out they are from San Ramon, a short drive from where I grew up.

I reluctantly lobbed on my backpack, grabbed my suitcase, and since the weather was lovely, I walked the 25 minutes to the Bath Spa train station. Bath is such a charming city, I hated to leave it, especially going to the unknown of a busy, major city, London. But there are more adventures to be had, scavenger hunt items to be accomplished, and an accent to be acquired, even if it's only in my dreams.