sharke
I hear some elements of regional British accents in certain parts of America, I've never heard traces of the Geordie accent though. I've learned to tone mine down for an international audience but when I first got here I did have people wondering where in the hell I was from at first. Some thought Irish (although I sometimes get the feeling some Americans think that any regional UK accent is Irish), and the closest anyone got was Scottish (I guess we're about 100 miles from Scotland). I did however have a few people ask me if I was Eastern European (can't hear that myself) and even Australian (exsqueeze me?)
For anyone curious about what the Geordie accent is, here's smash-faced Geordie actor Jimmy nail in a scene from the classic 80's TV show "Auf Weidersehen Pet." I think this was the first time a real Geordie accent had really been on TV. Prior to that, if there was anyone from the North East on TV it would be a really toned down version or some bizarre generic northern accent that didn't come close. Therefore, this show created quite a stir on Tyneside. But even this is toned down from the kind of thing you'd hear in Newcastle City Center on a Friday night.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNpqA_8UZAA
They may not place the accent but I don't think there's much difficulty understanding really. It was actually a bit annoyng when the patronising southern-based English media said Americans wouldn't understand Cheryl Cole. I think that's pretty much bollox. I'm from the NE of England and have never had any problem being understood in any part of the US, neither has my brother who's lived in Texas for years. Conversely, his in-laws and other Americans coming to the NE seem to understand perfectly - even when we deliberately try and thicken the accent up they get the gist OK. It's a small world nowadays and getting smaller.