[odonata]

I am from the UK, you know, that place where david beckham lives. I am always assumed to be American and this can be from people who are holding a bag with the union jack on it. No! England is not in Europe technically and there is no country called London as far as I know.

Today I had the pleasure of meeting a guy who has been living and working here (Japan) for over 4 years and speaks hardcore Japanese, I mean my jaw dropped when he busted some on the staff at this office. They were taken aback too from what I could see. But he did talk about going through a phase like you are describing. I think it may be that he has aquired an accent, or level of fluency that is transparent to Japanese people.