Despite now having lived here for nearly 3.5 years and being on my way to Citizenship, I still cling to some British aspects of life.
I automatically convert dollars to pounds before I spend any money! It's like an inbuilt calculator I cannot switch off!.
I read a British Newspaper online every day without fail, just to check everything's okay back home and to keep up with their news.
I still start every single day with a hot mug of tea, always PG Tips.
I still regularly refer to the restroom as the 'loo' in private. I soon got out of the habit of asking for the loo in public, due to all the blank stares I encountered. But when I am at home, work or at a friends it's still 'I am just popping to the loo'!
And of course, I still have my British accent despite a few new words.
32 comments:
It's good to keep your culture althought you are away from your home country. Our inheritance is what we are. If you change it you'll change as a person. You won't be your self any more. And your people love you for what you are.
Well, I happen to just love the British accent and I'll bet all your friends do, too.
It's still the loo for me too. And oh, PG Tips are the only real tea!
Aw, the little things that make us (and keep us as such!) who we are! I'm not really sure what my list would entail. Quite a mix of a number of cultures!
And don't change one little bit!
Congrats, Sarah, on the green card! When did you last go back to the UK, I'm wondering?
Sarah, I'm glad you hold onto your British ways. Just because you live in the States and are becoming a US citizen you should always hold onto where you came from! Have a great day!
I know just what you mean. One makes all manner of changes to speech and language, a little just to be understood, a little to fit in, but some things stay unchanged...gotta have me tea!
I still do the conversion on money too. The exchange rate is messing with me at the moment though. When i arrived it was 2 dollars - 1 pound, and now it's a measley 1.30 dollars to the pound. Totally messed with my system.
Also, I don't think i'll ever get used to iced tea, or iced coffee for that matter. Iced tea just tastes like 'off coloured' water to me, and iced coffee? Well who thoght to pick up a pot of coffee that had gone cold, drop ice in it and drink it? Someone odd, that's who!!
The people i work with find a constant source of amusement in my phrases. Yesterday I asked my boss to "chuck this in bin fo us will ya" and she looked at me like I was a loony. I had to rephrase. "Would you throw this into the trash for me"...and this is just one eof the many I get caught with on a daily basis.
I also can't get used to omitting the U from words such as colour, favour...etc. Oh and replacing the S with a Z in certain words....MS Word hates me!! lol
I must say I was very impressed with the way the British expressed their disapproval of the Economic Summit and the state of the economy worldwide ... nothing like a lot of rioting, breaking of glass and heads to get heard .. I think the last time Americans reacted in a big way was when they tossed the PG Tips into Boston Harbor ...
Well, welcome! Please keep the accent.
(Popped over from SITS to say "hi!")
Just stopping by from SITS to say hello.
What a great place you have here!
Ah, the old assimilation business. I am glad that you are keeping your heritage alive; I don't think that just because you come to live in another country that you should shed all traces of your homeland. That's preposterous!
And how do you feel about hamburgers and hotdogs???? A friend of mine from China complained that American food is too dry. Chinese food usually comes with gravy or sauce.
Roots are always important. Good to know where we've come from...and where we've been. :)
I have a very artsy print featuring the word "loo" that hangs in the ladies' room at my house! (And yes, it is the ladies (and gents) but when I use it, it is the ladies!)
I'm 11 years gone sweety and they couldn't knock the accent out of me if they tried. Although I do have a bit of an Irish twang that people always seem to find funny for some reason.
I think you can call it the Loo as much as you like, in fact, I like that word better! I will have to try that tea sometime! :0)
I convert pounds to dollars in my head all the time when I am shopping on the economy. I bet when I get back to the states I will do it dollars to pounds as well. Then saying, I bet I could get it cheaper in England.
I'm honored that you want to become a US Citizen but glad that you are still a Brit' at heart!
We'll have to report on each other's accents in June when you come up here. I do see the occasional Oakie-ism on your posts! Anyway, my mum's just arrived so I'm using phrases I can't even remember using in the first place!
Cup of tea first thing will be my habit, till the day it's brought to me on my deathbed. Can't start functioning without it.
I read the BBC News website.
I convert dollars to pounds in my head (wish I wouldn't, but can't stop)
You mean loos didn't make it over the pond along with our language, Britgal?!
I always feel very old fashioned when I say it here now, I must admit...
Great posting and good luck with the citizenship paperwork!
I've always sort of liked the word "loo". I guess it's not likely to catch on over here but I wouldn't mind if it did.
We're who we are and there are some aspects of us that never go away. :-) And that's a good thing!
I feel your pain. I moved from New York City to one of those boring states between the two coasts. Same country, COMPLETELY different culture. I go home to New York as often as possible. And I wear all of my fabulous catwalk outfits, even though the most fashionable place here is the grocery store.
I've lived here for 33 years and people are still surprised I sound so British. It wasn't a conscious effort and I still occasionally get a blank stare when I ask for something, say when I ask for a glass of "water" in a restaurant. I try to Americanize it now and they don't give me a double take when i do :-) And I LOVE my PG tips!!! You can take the girl out of England, you can't take England out of the girl, a true saying I think.
Should say congrats on working towards your Citizenship. I took mine last year. Yes it took me a few years to make the decision but I am so happy I did eventually.
When I moved in here with Mark, who has never been around little kids ever, he was always puzzled when I said I had to go to the "potty." He knew what it meant, but didn't get why a grown woman was calling it that. (Too many years of being around itty bitties.)
Personally, I like the phrase you introduced...."spend a penny." Even Mark will use that one around here now. Haha.
jan
I've lived in the US since 1965. It finally felt rude not being a US citizen, so did that in 2000! Married a Brit who I met here, so we keep each other British. I say 3 cheers for Bangers and Mash, PG Tips and Roast Beef and Yorkshire pudding... oh and crackers and silly paper hats on Christmas Day!
Cheers!
I think it's great that you keep up with things back on the other side of the pond even as you move toward citizenship here.
I think it is good that you keep your British roots. That is what the US is about, people from around the world coming together and making the US a better place to live.
Post a Comment