I can feel myself slipping into an accent when I visit family and I’m worried I sound like a jerk.

For a little context, my grandparents have lived in Mililani for forty years (grandpa was in the Air Force). My mom completed most of her schooling there and graduated from Mililani, then briefly moved to the mainland for college, got married and had me. Then we all moved back to Mililani with my grandparents just a couple months after I was born, and we stayed there until I was five. My grandparents never really acquired a local accent because they were already middle-aged by the time they moved, but my mom and uncle definitely had a local accent, along with most of the adults at my preschool, church, etc.

All that being said, I’ve been living on the mainland (mostly Montana) for 25+ years now, but I try to visit my grandparents at least every couple years, and it’s usually for a couple weeks at a time. Every time, a few days in, I feel like I start to slip into a bit of an accent (not pidgin, just an accent), especially after doing things like visiting my home church. Maybe it’s only me who notices it, but my husband says he can hear it happening sometimes.

I’m obviously not local, and I definitely don’t look local either. In Montana we basically have 6+ months of winter every year, so my haole skin rarely sees the sun, and I’m sure I look like the tourist I am. Slipping into an accent isn’t intentional, but when it happens I always worry I sound disrespectful or like some jerk tourist who’s poking fun.

Am I way overthinking this?