Mistaken for a Canadian

Yesterday I was out on my lunch break and I struck up a conversation with a store clerk. Almost immediately she asked me if I was Canadian. I was blown away. No one has asked me that in over 2 yrs!

My mother tells this great story about her immigration to Canada a few short years ago (right Mum)? They were joj (just off the jet) from England and my mother had her 1st day of school in their new small town Canadian home. My Grandma said that when my mother came home from school she couldn't understand a word she said, because instead of a British accent, my mother was fluent in the local accent (thick fishing port near drawl). Apparently my mother's need to fit in with the kids at school was much stronger than her need to keep her accent!

I've adapted much the same way. I still get the odd look from someone here that tells me that I must have ceased speaking English and used a "Canadian" word. But, basically shortly after I got here I replaced my ooooots with owutttts and tried to fly under the radar. Usually it works, apparently yesterday it did not.

It should be noted that the woman who pointed this out to me lived in Canada. She explained she was born in Canada but moved to Mississippi at the ripe old age of 8 days old!