Blimey Mate, What an Accent You've Got There

Thames River Festival
Being in London, home of the much beloved British accent, I have discovered a few things about accents in general that I perhaps may not have otherwise learned.
First thing is that the accent does not make everyone attractive; it will only enhance the attractiveness of someone who already fits into that category. For example, the accent will not make my history professor attractive. He is an older man, who would probably be a fantastic grandparent. However, the accent may actually make a boy my age more attractive. It would be wrong to say that the accent would make any boy my age attractive. This is a rather common view people have: “the British accent makes any guy/girl hot.” After being here for nearly a month and a half, I can safely say that is not true. A creepy person is creepy no matter what accent they happen to have.
Second thing is that there doesn't seem to be any benefit in faking an accent unless you've had lots of practice doing it. Practice not in the presence of those with said accent, however. One of my friends, one of the very first days here, decided he was going to try out his British accent when ordering a drink at a pub. When he returned to us with his drink, he told us that the bartender told him he “needed work on his accent.” Considering it was the first day and he had not had much practice, I knew the bartender would figure it out. I was afraid that they may actually be insulted (I don't think people are fond of having their accents faked). Many of my friends from home ask me if I've picked up the accent yet and every time my answer is an emphatic no. I refuse to even attempt one because I know that there are phrases I will utter that will automatically give me away as a New Yorker. More than one person I've met here has picked up on the New York accent I seem to have only when I leave New York.
Which brings me to the third thing I've discovered about accents. Oftentimes, the only way to realize that you actually have one is to leave the place where you're from. Suddenly, the people around you notice the way you say certain things. Last year, a friend of mine from California pointed out that I kept saying “wait on line” instead of “wait in line,” which is apparently the right way to say it. I consulted a few other people and the results were that only people from Long Island (where I'm from) seem to say “wait on line.” Well, prior to that moment, I'd never considered that phrase to be a problem; but after that, I began to watch how I said it, simply because it was confusing my friends. Here in London, I've found that though I don't have the Long Island/New York accent that Fran Drescher made famous, I somehow have a distinct enough accent that Londoners can tell where I'm from. The odd thing is that they don't mind Americans who say that they're from New York. They are always interested in it and inevitably say “oh I want to go there” or “I've been there.” Either way, they seem amiable when you say New York; say anywhere else and...the reception may not be as friendly.
So far, sticking to my New York accent has been working out fine. British people don't seem to mind and I don't risk offending them by trying to fake it. But the urge to add “mate” or “blimey” into a sentence is always looming.