When I arrived in the United States a little over 16 months ago – bags in hand, newly-minted visa proudly stamped into my already dog-eared passport – I did not see myself as an expat. I didn’t even really consider myself to be a foreigner. After all, I had been to America on holiday before, had seen countless films and television programmes set there, and spoke the language. My first “home away from home” was to be Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the heart of New England, where familiar place names peppered local maps – Worcester, Essex, Hampshire, Norfolk, Bristol and Plymouth to mention but a few. What could go wrong?
But my naivety prompted a huge culture shock. Just the above few sentences already betray the British in me: my language was foreign to Americans who would say “vacation” for “holiday”, “movies” for films, “shows” for “programmes”. (which they spell “programs”) and pronounce their place names in ways that would make someone from Worcestershire’s toes curl.
Although American culture has fully invaded the British mindset– especially amongst my generation, who grew up watching Friends and Sex and the City on repeat – the reverse has not occurred. Whilst there is currently a craze here for Downton Abbey, and a fondness for Inspector Morse and Midsummer Murders, few young Americans watch British TV or films. And what they do enjoy – such as the much celebrated The King’s Speech – usually suggests that Britain is stuck in a time-warp, a land of country manors, voice coaches, and teatime rituals interspersing the murders on the village green.
'I often feel like a less well-groomed version of Miss United Kingdom'
My vocabulary is not familiar to an American ear – it comes across as peculiar and quaint, and marks me out as a foreigner. What I especially didn’t realise until I got here was what words are left unused. For example, I had no idea that the word “fortnight’”was particularly British until I was mocked in my graduate dormitory for sounding “Shakespearean”.
Last year I was one of many foreign graduate students (I was on a fellowship year at Harvard University, a melting pot for the brightest young people across the globe) and so we all experienced foreignness in our own ways, and outnumbered the Americans in the dormitory two to one.
Though I never intended to leave the UK for more than one year, the expat life suited me and I now find myself in the middle of probably the most international city in the United States – New York – but am now studying at a small graduate school in which I am one of only two overseas students. My nationality now defines me more than ever as “the British girl” amongst my peers which I relish and reject in the same breath – I often feel like a less well-groomed version of Miss United Kingdom, getting to speak on behalf of the entire nation, and getting teased for any shortcomings we might be accused of (and there are only so many times one can laugh off the Boston Tea Party). But is has also sparked a pride in my home country, and has given me the distance to see what makes the United Kingdom unique.
Though I sometimes try to mask my linguistic differences to avoid the inevitable conversation that will be sparked if I direct someone to the “lift” rather than the “elevator”, I do refuse some Americanisms – aubergines will never be eggplants to me. So whilst you can take the girl out of Britain, you cannot take the British English out of the girl.
Toodle pip for now!
Follow Sophie on Twitter @sophiejpitman
