THE SPELLING?
I stopped at the butcher tonight to pick up a couple steaks for dinner. While the nice butcher man was serving me, some female butcher (who looked like she might be a college student) must have overheard me.
Her: Oh wow, are you from America?
Me: *reluctantly* Yeah. Originally.
Her: Originally?
Me: Yeah. I’m Australian now too.
Her: Oh! Well, how long have you been here?
Me: About eight years.
Her: Wow. Do you like it?
Me: *struggling to maintain composure* Yeah. Obviously.
Her: Is it really different here from where you lived in the States?
Me: *lying now* Not really. It’s pretty much the same.
Her: Oh! But the SPELLING is all different!
Me: *finally glaring* I’M. REALLY. GOOD. AT. SPELLING.
That was the dumbest conversation I’ve had in a loooong time. “Do you like it?” AFTER EIGHT YEARS?? It was like every stupid “you’re a foreigner” conversation I’ve ever had, all rolled into one. I really hate it. It suddenly makes me aware of being different. Most of the time I don’t even think about it, but these idiots always make me feel like an outsider.
SlythErin
May 5, 2009 — 11:11 pm
My mother still gets that sometimes, and she’s lived here over thirty years.
M-H
May 5, 2009 — 11:41 pm
See, there’s a difference right there: “College student”. It’s “Yewnee stewdint” Say after me… Honestly, people are so stoopid. Vive la difference, I say.
Rhonda
May 6, 2009 — 9:54 am
I am frequently asked if I “eat Japanese food?”. I have been in Japan 13 years. Do “they” assume I import all my food?
Another winner…How do you communicate with your husband? Who says we communicate? FYI-He speaks English perfectly.
Bex
May 6, 2009 — 10:43 am
LOL!
Kris
May 6, 2009 — 11:35 am
On my blog, I flip-flop between US and OZ spellings/vernacular. So if I were talking to a person here, I’d have described her as a “uni student.” But I must have still been in the mental “seppo” box she put me in.
And Rhonda – yours are even worse, I’ll admit! 🙂
TiNK
May 6, 2009 — 2:47 pm
yes, the spelling…
It must have been real difficult for you Kris to change your Z to S and then add in a few U’s here and there. It’s like we are from different planets.
Rob
May 6, 2009 — 3:18 pm
my spelling sux in both languages but there are many times when i hear an accent and I can’t for the life of me tell if that person has an american or australian accent. the both just sound. well. normal.
Barb
May 7, 2009 — 8:43 pm
> Most of the time I don’t even think about it, but these idiots always make me feel like an outsider.
Uh huh. This.