January 16, 2003

No we don't . . . do we?

When I got to work at 3 today (evening shift - I do them once a week), my first task was to relieve my friend Simon for his tea break. He was in the Divinity School. One of my favorite points, cool!

While I was in there for my 30-minute stint, I was talking with one of my bosses and walking around the Div School (we were discussing the ceiling). A couple of visitors came in. Here's what happened:

Man: "All the way from America!"
Me: "Oh! Me, too!"
Man: "No, I mean you!"
Me: "Oh, uhh, right. Sorry. Hee Hee." (I felt pretty stupid. The guy was English.)
Man: "I could tell by your walk."
Me: ::dust puffs out of ears, stares blankly::

We have a WALK now!??!

Posted by Erin at January 16, 2003 08:56 PM
Comments

hey erin,
finally checking back in after awhile. hope all is well in oxford. i am enjoying catching up on your site. congrats on the snazzy new laptop case.

Posted by: jane at January 17, 2003 12:46 AM

Actually I always thought it was the British who had the funny walk ( like you have a ---stuck up your

Posted by: DAD at January 17, 2003 01:31 AM

No, we don't have a walk! The Brits just adore playing 'Spot the American'... although what we do have are clothes that don't look terribly British.

To wit, if you're not wearing at least one piece of denim and/or a T-shirt with a motto, you're likely to be American. Also, we appear to be the only people on Earth who wear loafers and REI jackets.

But a walk? No.

Posted by: Andrew at January 17, 2003 02:02 PM

Tee hee! Touché!

Posted by: MrsHughey at January 17, 2003 04:41 PM

Actually, when it comes to getting from one place to another, on foot, Americans are quite distinct. I'm not sure if it's that obvious in England, but we of the former Colonies tend to walk "big". Big steps, big waving of the hands, big shoulder movements, etc. Just big. A foreign man in a foreign land once pointed out the "American" walk to me. How embarrassing.

Posted by: Evan at January 17, 2003 06:32 PM

oi...yea, i get this everytime i go to asia, or anywhere else in the world for that matter. i can't see it myself, and I don't know how to describe it either, but PJ could probably do a better job ^.^ anyway. I've been told that we "swagger" somewhat, seem more sure of ourselves, and walk like we have a purpose...?? ehh...like someone suggested to me, you could always try taping yourself...(?!?!)

Posted by: vera at January 18, 2003 04:25 AM