Listen Up

One fun thing about traveling to strange places is how people hang on my every word although I'm usually asking something like where the bus stop is or is this really edible. This is a big change from home where I'm lucky to get a full sentence out even if I'm trying to tell someone what they're wrong about. It's a lot more fun when people listen.
I think it's the accent. I've noticed that when I travel thirty miles north into Canada the cadence and pronunciation of common words sounds exotic. I must sound the same to them. It's even more fun in countries where English is a second language. People in Europe usually only hear the American language when they're watching Hollywood movies, so going there is a double bonus. They listen intently and think that we sound like a movie characters. I swear that sometimes they will look around as though expecting to see cameras and a director.
Lately I've been throwing some German phrases in when I talk. Nothing fancy, just 'bis spater' or 'gesundheit.' I studied hard to learn German, so I might as well use it. I thought that people would see the fun in it, and maybe take the trouble to learn a little themselves, but it turns out that saying things that people don't understand just annoys them. I'm pretty sure that if I just pretended to have an accent that it would annoy them a lot more.
But I won't know for sure unless I try.
Nancy Sherer