Monkey HEAR, monkey do

When we moved here, I expected that everyone around me would be speaking with some sort of southern drawl and I'd be the odd ball. I thought that people would make remarks about my speech the same way I'd comment on someone's southern drawl in Illinois ("Oh, so where are you from? You don't sound like you're from around here...").

To my surprise, quite a few people speak "normally," that is, without the drawl, as this area seems to have attracted a lot of transplants from places like Florida, Ohio, New England (there's a dialect of a different color) and various other states east of Illinois. In fact, of everyone working in Josh's office, there's only one person who did NOT come from out of state. So, I have become pretty comfortable with the idea that my mid-western dialect has not stuck out too badly, as the locals here are pretty used to hearing a variety.

I was humbled today, however, in one of my Kindergarten classes. (Yes, it's a teacher story, but stick with me...) Today we played a new game which required the use of a large mat. I rolled out the mat, explained the rules, and then had the children find their places on the mat. In directing them to find their places, I told them to "go all the way around the mat." And I stressed "around," just a little, using my finger to follow the direction in which I wanted them to walk. I'm sure I was being animated, but I swear I wasn't trying to be funny. But as soon as I said "arouuunnnd," I had about three kids in unison mimic me:

"araaaaaaaaaound!" Like, all nasally and mid-western.

Thanks, guys.

I know they weren't making fun of me, because the only time they do that is when they think I'm being purposely silly. And apparently I naturally sound silly to them. So there ya' go. And I was worried that South Carolina would change the way I talk...