"speak, seppo, speak"

So, I was sitting at lunch the other day and was enjoying good conversation with some of my friends when I noticed I kept getting asked to repeat myself. Was I mumbling, did I have something in my teeth? No, apparently I just say some words "funny." Seriously, I have been here for over a month and they are just realizing this now? The culprit...the letter "r". "Four," "or," "retard," "carpet" just to name a few. Now, if you knew me as a child, you would know that the letter "r" and I are old friends. In grades three and four I had to attend speech classes to help fix my Elmer Fud Syndrome: "wassicly wabbit wan wight." It took much practice of reciting "the pirate ran around the red baron to reach the rum," to finally ditch Elmer and step into the light of proper speaking society.

Now this childhood achievement is a tell tale sign that I am an American - I sound like "George Bush". And the funny part is it is only some words that people, particularly Boyd, poke fun at. He will repeat it in a way that makes me sound really stupid...sort of like when I make the nasal "a" sound to make fun of my friends from Ohio. Well, I have tasted my own medicine and it is bitter. Karma is a bitch. Oh well, I have just taken to dishing it right back, repeating words they say with a very fake Aussie accent. Talking "funny" is a two way street, my friends, and in the states we drive on the right side. Silly Austwalians.