My accent is my passport
Happy new year! We're within the last days of January so let's take my cheerings as valid still 🏄🏼♂️.
Due to my newfound job I had to move to the other side of the country for an indefinite amount of time. I might go back to my hometown after a while or not, it'll depend on many factors.
The point of this post is to point out an interesting thing that has been happening to me in this new city. I come from a region with a very thick and distinctive accent. I knew about this whenever I moved around the country and stopped for a coffee or in any random restaurant. I'd open my mouth and blurt out two or three sentences and automatically they'd point out "ah you're from there right?".
At first I was surprised because I didn't think my accent was so, so strong but after awhile I came to come to terms to the fact. Actually, I've met plenty of people here that also came from my region and after a decade or so, their accents have mostly faded away and completely blended in. There's nothing wrong with that, but I refuse that to happen to me.
I am extremely proud of my origins and heritage, and when someone hears me speak and smile because of the unmistakable cadence of my words and tonality, I feel like I stand on the shoulders of all the previous emigrants that left for a better life somewhere else (even within the same country), when times were harder and tougher.
To some degree I don't have any say, my accent might dillute or go away entirely over the course of the years, were I to stay, but I'll try my best to keep it. My accent is my passport.