Blending In

It's been 8 1/2 months now since we arrived in this strange country. It feels like a lifetime ago that we left home. It took awhile but I'm really starting to notice now some changes in my speech. Of course there's no change in accent or anything like that. Once a Canadian, always a Canadian, I think. I will always tack on 'eh' at the end of my sentences, and certainly the way I pronounce certain letters and words will likely never change. What I am noticing, though, is some changes to my inflection. I particularly notice it at work where I am surrounded by English speakers.

I was writing a file at work the other day and when I wrote anesthetic I realized that I had automatically spelled it anaesthetic. I am getting into the habit of writing faecal instead of fecal, although I still flat out refuse to be sucked in to spelling diarrhea with an 'o'. There is absolutely no need to put an 'o' in there - what kind of a word is diarrhoea? Sound that out for me. I am starting to say 'fits' instead of 'seizures', and 'wee' instead of 'pee'. I regularly ask clients if their pet is 'well in himself'. I say 'castrate' instead of 'neuter'. I say 'drip' instead of 'fluids' (meaning intravenous fluids). When I end a phone call I raise my voice two octaves to say 'bye'. Trust me, listen to some Brits on the phone - they all do it. If I'm asking a question I often drop my voice instead of going up at the end, another change in inflection which I'm starting to notice more. I love the saying 'chuffed to bits' and am definitely adding it to my repertoire. I had two separate clients say 'rightio' in two separate phone calls within minutes of each other, although that's not one I'm using yet!

I'm learning some Kiwi phrases too, since I work with a couple of New Zealanders. I've learned "awesome with a capital 'O'", which is only funny when you hear it in a Kiwi accent. I've picked up the word 'gutted' (disappointed) as well.

Noise is a bit different because from the beginning he set out to blend in and purposely used certain sayings, such as 'cheers', until they became habit. But he's starting to speak a bit differently too. But at home we both speak normally (for us), so I guess it mostly comes by feeding off the person you are talking to. Of course at home we mostly watch American tv so that keeps us level! And we now have ESPN America on Sky, which means we GET HOCKEY GAMES! Go Leafs Go!

This weekend we're heading out on a bit of a road trip through the Cotswolds. No major plans, we've booked a room in an inn which is dog-friendly, but beyond that we will probably just have a loose outline and see where the roads take us. It seems to be spring here, so hopefully the weather will be kind to us. Anyone who has been to the Cotswolds and has any "must-sees" please let me know!

That's all I have for now. Till later!