Time to Compare Notes

Can it really be 17 months since leaving Blighty? A lot can happen in 17 months.
For the first time in ages I looked back at some of my blog entries and reminisced about what was going through my mind at the time. We soon will be taking a trip back to England & Scotland, and I have promised myself I will be doing a blog entry every day.

When I first got here I was like a child, fascinated about the big cars, the gaps between the toilet doors and the automatic hand towel dispenser in the rest room. I wonder how I will perceive the UK now that I have got used to the American way of life!

• Will everything seem smaller there?
• Will I refer to the toilet as the rest room as I did just a second ago?
• Will I have a mid-Atlantic accent?

The words I use
I don’t think I have picked up much of an accent, (although I did catch self saying “mo-bul” instead of “mo-byle” when talking about a phone the other day). I think the biggest change is the way I say something, but not the accent or the words I use. The best way I know how to describe what I mean is by way of an example:

When asked “Where did you park?”
• UK: I parked on Fir Tree Road, just round the corner from Cherry Street.
• USA: I’m parked over on Fir Tree and Cherry? – (note: this has a question mark because the rising inclination encouraging the person asking the question to nod or say “oh, I know where mean”)

The names I call people
When I talk to my peers, I don’t always use their name. This never used to bother me but when people (in the UK) who you don’t know call you “mate” it really pisses me off (especially if they are clearly younger than you). You’re not my mate, you are a guy selling me some crap I don’t want down the phone… get stuffed! However, if you know the person well then using “mate” is fine. I have found people from the US don’t use “mate” (unless they are doing an impression of an Australian).
The interesting thing for me is that the “mate” equivalent in the US is “Sir”. I get off the bus and say to the driver: “Thank you Sir”. I’m at the bar and ask my friend “does that beer taste good”… “Yes Sir” comes the response. The way I think of it is:
• UK = Cheers Mate
• US = Thank You Sir – (Even though “Sir” seems a little formal, I always take it to be a little tongue-in-cheek).

All said and done, if you did get a call trying to sell you something and they were calling you “Sir” instead of “Mate” I think I’d stay on the phone slightly longer.