A Sad Day in Changchun

This past week, an American Brother was visiting our assembly. After introducing myself to him, he asked where I was from. I proudly said, “North Carolina.” “Really!” he replied. “I never would have known. You don’t have a Southern accent at all.” As I slowly pulled the dagger out of my heart, it hit me that I have started to lose my native accent. I asked myself why, and it hit me: the slow, pedantic, and overly-enunciated speech that I use to communicate with my students has created a “non-accent,” if you will. The cure? A good dose of “The Andy Griffith Show,” (the episode of ‘Barney’s First Car,’ to be exact). There’s nothin’ like Andy to bring back that good ole’ Southern drawl.