To everyone, I'm definately the American.

When  I moved here I was so focused on attempting to understand everyone and not make a complete fool of myself, I didn't realize that I was also contributing my friends views of America.
It wasn't until 2nd year that this fact hit me. I was talking to a friend from Prague and during the conversation I said "cool beans" as a reply to a statement he said.

American identity

He then asked " Is that something all Americans say?"

I found that I had no idea. I never paid much attention to the saying of my friends at home so I wasn't sure of it was an American saying. I also realized that my friend was using my as a reference for American culture. It was a different feeling.

I have already discussed how Irish English reflects the Irish culture and the Irish identity. What I didn't realize was that my language was reflecting the American identity, according to my friend.

I didn't even think to think about the relationship between the two different varieties of the English language and the country it is used in. Michael Cronin discusses the hierarchies between languages and dialects, but since I see Irish-English and American  English as being on the same "level" the need to analyze the difference between the two was not strong. In that moment however, I suddenly felt a sense of responsibility. I was a factor in presenting America to people of different nationalities. Whatever I said would be seen as a reflection of American culture.

I believe that in many situations, the traveller is focused on how the new place is affecting them and not how they too are contributing to something. I also can't believe that it took me two years in Ireland to think about this.