On a trip from Paris to London, I was talking to the UK police officer at passport control who had no idea I was American until I handed him my passport. This was a good sign for me, nearly passing as British, but since then, I've been able to get by with other ethnicities aside from American.
I don't know Italian, but I do know that Spanish is closer to Italian than English, so whilst in Rome, I opted to try Spanish first, because people don't like you to expect them to know English. At an internet cafe, I was asked if I actually was Spanish, despite handing over a UK university ID in exchange for the use of a computer. While the group was in Tivoli, I went off with a few loud Americans as they searched for toilets. I was clearly with the group and they were clearly American. I stayed behind as the group filtered out and upon ordering a croissant, I was questioned if I was French (although he might have been taking the piss).
According to my flatmates, I don't have a very strong American accent. They met me the same night they met a texan and said I didn't sound American, whereas she did. And I guess my time over here is just pushing me further away from the typical American accent because Lee's newest flatmate is from California and she thought I was from Northern Ireland as well.
So for all of you who told me to come back with an accent, it appears I might be doing so, even though I haven't really been trying. Although, due to certain circumstances, it might be a bit more of a Northern Irish accent than an English one.
Important note: English muffins are different from the American version and so much better. And chips (British french fries with more potato) are highly addicting, especially when there's a chip shop just down the road.
