Where in Michigan are you, erinmaiden? If you're in the Detroit area, then you're not far from Windsor & the Mudcatters there as well -- including Clinton Hammond and the open mike (with nice cash prizes!) he hosts. Check it out -- you might make some money while you're there!

As for accents... I've been over here 5-6 years now & still sound all too American (I'd love to be able to "pass"!). But -- even after I'd only been here for a few months, American friends said I had a *definite* "English accent". ("Oh no you don't!" says my English husband. Although he allows as how my Yank accent is much more pronounced when talking to "home" on the phone -- even if it's just an answering machine.) Although... the other day an English friend told me I had "ta!" down *just* right! SO -- one word down, only a few tens of thousands (or so) to go...!). If nothing else, I've certainly picked up some English words & speech patterns; I'm sure Sorcha has as well. And if I want to, I think I can "sound" quite English in writing. ;-)

Another interesting thing: I've noticed that when I sing in the choir I belong to here, somehow my pronunciation conforms to everyone else's; for example, those soft Rs (that sound like AHs) that never sound quite right when I'm *trying* to sound English somehow come out perfectly when I'm singing with the choir (but not when I sing by myself). Is this what they mean when they say "music is the universal language"? ;-)

A friend of mine calls it a "MidAtlantic" accent. Another friend who's a transplanted Englishman says Americans think he sounds English and English folks think he sounds American. So it goes...

YY