mocked because of accent.

I get that I haven't been in the UK as long as a lot of ex-pats; I arrive in Autumn of 2011.

But I also come from Boston, which is about the least 'typical american' city there is. The culture is not all that different from big parts of British culture. It wasn't a hard move for me (moving to Seoul? Hardish. Hong Kong? It was AWFUL).

Sometimes things get to me more than they should, I guess. Yesterday I was at G&Ds, a great ice cream shop in Oxford, with my fiance (which is new enough that it feels strange to write that!) and a handful of friends visiting from up north, that we both knew in grad school. They were all British, but it was only me and my guy that knew how to handle the rather crowded shop. In the midst of directing them, and literally just going, 'ok, so the list of flavours is over there...then go over to the till to order' a 40-something guy turned to me and said, 'There's a queue here. You know. The ENGLISH queue system.'

And boy did he give me a death glare.

It's stupid that it got to me and I don't know why it did. Amongst my friends, I'm as amused by my transatlantic accent as they are; my fiance likes that he can tell when I've been skyping with my Boston friends because my accent comes back wicked strong. But this guy, just because I sounded differently, he had to tell me off? We weren't even IN the effing line!

I suspect it really bummed me out because although I am thrilled to be newly engaged and am madly in love with my guy, and love living in Oxford and really am happy to be here for maybe forever, sometimes it's hard. It's sometimes hard when I can't fill out job applications properly ('Please list your GCSEs') or when bus drivers assume I need help figuring out which coin is which, or when people turn and stare at me in coffee shops when I order an americano.

I don't know any other american ex-pats; I know one canadian, and a handful of students. Do these things get easier with time? Did it just hit me hard because it's coincided with planning a wedding and other big future plans? Am I being completely stupid?

Thanks for letting me rant.

I've been here since April 2012. I'm originally from North Carolina. When I first moved, people here (in Norwich) seemed enthralled with my accent and would just say 'You're not from around here are you?' My accent has now started changing and becoming more British, so is much softer than it once was. Now I get the "you're Canadian, aren't you?" I don't mind the former, but the latter is just rude to me (not the Canadian bit, the assumption bit). As long as they mean well, I just try to take it in stride and say, 'Nope, North Carolinian originally, British now!" If they are being mean about it though, woo boy. As my husband (UKC) would say: "there is nothing like getting a Southern woman mad. It's like repeatedly poking a bees nest and wondering why you get stung!"

It takes a lot to get me mad, but if someone would have said to me what that guy said to you, I would have probably come back at him just as hard. Knowing me, I would have said something along the line of "I may not have grown up here, but at least *I* was taught manners, unlike some obviously." I've learned that *most* British folk do not enjoy being called out in public, nor do they like confrontation. If I have a problem, I will confront the offending party. They usually very quickly back down and apologise.

If I worked at a store and someone said something like that to one of my customers, I would have escorted him or her off of the property!

ive been here since nov 2010 and from north carolina...........i honestly can say that the brits have never treated me badly......they adore my accent and southern ways........and they love to ask me all about america........aint never been glared at for bringing my lipton sweet ice tea to drink neither........hope things get better for you

Before I moved to the UK, I was working in a local shop part time. A British woman came in and one of my friends told her that I was moving to England. She asked me where and I said, "Bath". She said, "Oh, it's lovely there, but you'll need to pronounce it 'Bau-th' (I have no idea how to spell the differentiation)". And no, she wasn't joking. Well, talk about making someone nervous about moving to a new town! Apparently I couldn't even pronounce it correctly! I thought it was incredibly rude. Keep in mind, this was 7 years ago and I still remember it!

Did your fiance say anything? I probably would have said something like, "yes, I'm aware, I've lived here for 2 years". I'm fairly certain he's the one who sounded like a jacka** to the people around him, not you and your accent.

I wouldn't have thought an American accent in Oxford was that big a deal, or maybe that's just the thing, an assumption that you are a tourist or just a student and he's got fed up of them.
Being in Barnsley DW does get remarks about her accent, and looks when we are in the supermarket, but people are just genuinely interested in why she is here. I don't recall her getting any negative comments...just jokes from the taxi driver from the train station when he says "You're a long way from home" and she says "Not really, should only take you 10 minutes to get there!"

 

I think the person in the ice cream shop was a rude twit, and unfortunately we run into them all the time.

However I do think that the person who told the poster how to pronounce Bath might have been trying to be helpful, although it is difficult to judge from a posted comment.  I try to (kindly) help my expat friends who mispronounce place names so that they will be understood when they ask for train tickets!

Now I get the "you're Canadian, aren't you?" I don't mind the former, but the latter is just rude to me (not the Canadian bit, the assumption bit).

Now you know how a lot of Canadians feel!  Also some of the subtext may be just that, because Brits are well aware of Canadian annoyance at assumed being American, that, in an effort to be sensitive, some just move the assumption in the other direction, if that makes sense?

I wouldn't have thought an American accent in Oxford was that big a deal, or maybe that's just the thing, an assumption that you are a tourist or just a student and he's got fed up of them.

I think it's probably this as well. And a sense of humour helps. 

You know, being in an new country is hard and it's perfectly okay to get annoyed and frustrated at differences and how people might treat you badly when they see / hear difference. They're just ignorant, having a bad day, whatever. Feeling like an outsider will shift with time.

Although everyone's going to run into rude people at some point (and that's no fun), I think a lot of it is just people being interested.

This, for instance, just strikes me as someone making an observation, although an incorrect one, and not being rude or insulting. It's the sort of thing I might say if I heard an American accent:

"you're Canadian, aren't you?"

They were all British, but it was only me and my guy that knew how to handle the rather crowded shop. In the midst of directing them, and literally just going, 'ok, so the list of flavours is over there...then go over to the till to order' a 40-something guy turned to me and said, 'There's a queue here. You know. The ENGLISH queue system.'

Hiya... maybe something got lost in the telling of it/writing it all out,  but I'm not seeing how your accent was mocked. 
I just see a grumpy customer in a crowded shop that is worrying about his position in the queue not being acknowledged by a large-ish group of people that came in after him.  If everyone was queueing properly, why would he have a need to say anything?

So what did you say to him after that?  And what did your ENGLISH friends say to him?  Just curious to know how it played out, cos I know what I would have said! 

I met a Canadian on the bus the other day and thinking he was American spoke to him. He said nicely, "Oh no I'm Canadian." People looked around at us and I said, "I hear the salmon are doing better this year." He says something like, "Well I'm from Toronto." Very embarrassing. 

I met a Canadian on the bus the other day and thinking he was American spoke to him. He said nicely, "Oh no I'm Canadian." People looked around at us and I said, "I hear the salmon are doing better this year." He says something like, "Well I'm from Toronto." Very embarrassing. 

Lost in translation from all sides? 

However I do think that the person who told the poster how to pronounce Bath might have been trying to be helpful, although it is difficult to judge from a posted comment.  I try to (kindly) help my expat friends who mispronounce place names so that they will be understood when they ask for train tickets!

No, her tone was not helpful at all. My mouth is physically incapable of pronouncing Bath the way the British say it. In fact, even my British friends didn't pronounce it the way this woman said it (which was terribly posh). Sorry, but you can't mispronounce Bath like you can Worcester or Gloucestershire.

Before I moved to the UK, I was working in a local shop part time. A British woman came in and one of my friends told her that I was moving to England. She asked me where and I said, "Bath". She said, "Oh, it's lovely there, but you'll need to pronounce it 'Bau-th' (I have no idea how to spell the differentiation)". And no, she wasn't joking. Well, talk about making someone nervous about moving to a new town! Apparently I couldn't even pronounce it correctly! I thought it was incredibly rude. Keep in mind, this was 7 years ago and I still remember it!

Wow - not everyone in the UK pronounces Bath the same!

Hiya... maybe something got lost in the telling of it/writing it all out,  but I'm not seeing how your accent was mocked. 

I don't think the OP was saying their accent was mocked, they were saying that they were mocked because of their accent being heard. The person in the shop heard an American accent and made reference to the "ENGLISH queuing system".

English folk can quite arrogant, but all part of their character . Even up in Scotland they'll try to order you about, but deep down they good folks .