3 years ago I was an exchange student at a high school in a pretty rural town in the US. That little remote area has seen a huge influx of Eastern Asian students recently and it was quite a cultural shock. Naturally a few of the local folks had some bad attitudes toward us.

I was so afraid that I’d be judged and isolated. No idea how did I came up with the idea of adapting British accent so I could cover up my true accent thus hide my real identity. It worked well though, nobody figured out my background except my close friends. I also had to came up with a story that I went to a English boarding school at younger age, everyone bought that too. There were a bunch of other dumb thing I did that I can’t remember very clearly, all to support the lie.

I thought I was able to get by only because of most people in town weren’t familiar with British accent. Now I’m in college, strange that the accent stayed even though I’m not pretending anymore. And I’ve met people who grew up in England, he actually thought I was from somewhere around his region. Seems it has became a part of who I am now.

What’s funny about the whole thing is, most of the local folks aren’t that xenophobic at all. In fact some of them are the nicest, most helpful people I’ve ever seen. Took me too long to find that out. I’ve basically made myself a Brit for no good reasons.