Winston Churchill once said that the Americans and British are two peoples separated by a common language. The more countries I visit, the more this seems to be true all over the globe. For better or worse, English has become the second language for most of the world.
However, I have found that an accent can make quite a difference.
About a year ago, my boyfriends rugby team was hosting a Welsh team. Obviously, after the rugby game ends its common practice to go out to a pub and celebrate with a few pints (this I think will ring true no matter where you are from). Growing up in Russia, I thought I was pretty decent at picking up linguistics and accents. Oh boy. I was wrong. I had absolutely NO clue what the conversation was going on about. I was definately pulling out the “smile and nod” strategy way more than necessary. Thinking back to this frightful (but very entertaining) night, I all of a sudden find myself a little jittery. Given – I’ll be living in London, not Wales, BUT the thought of not being able to uphold a full conversation in my native language is a bit odd, no?
Take for example: a fanny pack. A very common noun here in Canada, meaning nothing more than a pouch/wallet that you clip around your waist. I believe in England it is called a “butt pack” (confirm?). Harmless? No. Sources have told me that the word “fanny” in England actually means …ahem…a girls nether regions…ahem. Making the concept of a “fanny pack” something extremely odd and perverted.
My goal: to have my Londoner friends saying the word “eh” at the end of every sentence…If “eh” is, indeed, a word outside of Canada.
Don’t worry though, I’ll be bringing my jumpers and knickers in the boot of my bloody car.
*shoves you with elbow* Eh? Eh? Getting good, no?
Check out this VIDEO here. I need to hire her as my coach.
Anna Goes Bananas 
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