Divided by a Common Language

If I could only understand the accent, I could feel a real part of the conversation. But I can't, and so I'm not. We are at breakfast, again, and the lady of the accent is from Blackpool. It's about an hour north of Liverpool, famous for its Beatles. In fact, her accent sounds slightly Beatles-ish and she has a style vaguely reminiscent of that era. I like her and the style a lot, and we could be great friends, I think - if only I could understand her. It really is almost like being deaf.

By the time the dining room is full, a cacophony of British accents had sprung up to baffle me further. Wiltshire; Manchester; our lady from Blackpool, and a recent addition all the way from York. All are tremendously friendly, and want to hear about the 'American lady' and her strange travels so far from the state of California. 

"I find California men to be quite interesting," said the man at the table next to mine. "They have straightforward business sense. But the women I've found to be slightly Barbie-dollish."

"Barbie-dollish?" I responded.

"Yes, Barbie-dollish. You know, the blond hair, the white smiles, the..."

His wife cleared her throat meaningfully, and the subject became changed.

Then they decided to take a vote (they really did this) to see who in the dining room would rather live in California, and who would rather live in Cornwall. Every one of their hands shot up in favor of California. They laughed at the look on my face.

"But why?" I asked.

"It's the weather, of course, dearie," said one.

"And the ocean," interjected another. I think he was the one from York. 

"But," I said, "there's an ocean here!" I pointed out the window.

This caused him to pause. "Well yes, of course there is an ocean here. But it isn't anything like the ocean there. The ocean there is warm."

This was true and I admitted it. The Brits feel deprived of sunlight, have always felt deprived of sunlight, and they are tired of it. No wonder so many countries in the Commonwealth are hot. No wonder they want to live in California.

I finished my breakfast, and stood to go. They all smiled and said goodbye, and then I realized something important. I had actually understood almost almost everything they'd just been saying. A break-through!

Maybe I just needed practice. I knew I'd get some more at breakfast tomorrow, and would look forward to that. The fog was beginning to clear, and I didn't feel deaf anymore.




See you along the way!
the SconeLady