From A Land Down Under | Growing Up With an Australian Parent feat. Ashleigh

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you

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Hello and welcome to Culture in Between, a podcast about the unique experiences of growing up

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in a culture that is different from your parents' culture. So we are Alyssa and Brianna. Hello.

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And we are your hosts and we are so excited to welcome our first guest. Her name is Ashley

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and she grew up with an Australian parent and we are just going to talk a little bit about.

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Australian culture and how growing up with an Australian dad has affected her life. So welcome

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to the show Ashley. Thank you for being here. Thanks for having me. So let's start right

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away with Just can you tell us where exactly in Australia your dad is from and where did

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you grow up? So my dad is from Canberra, which I think is about five hours from Sydney. I

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think And I grew up in Portland, Oregon. So, yeah. Wow, okay. And we don't often hear of

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Australian immigrants to coming to America. You know, I feel like a lot of Americans know

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about Australia only through like movies and TV shows and not a lot of us have really met

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an actual Australian person in real life. So, can you tell us how your dad, how and why I

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guess your dad came to the US? So my dad, when he was about 21, he was an electrician on a

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ship. He also did YWAM, which is Youth with a Mission. So I think he had gone down to Mexico

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for a little bit on a missions trip and at some point ended up going to Portland and my mom...

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her friend had asked her to go down to the docks to meet the sailors. And so they met. I think

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they wrote letters for about a year to each other. And then he ended up moving here to

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get married and stayed. That's awesome. Yes, love kept him around. Like growing up with

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someone, with a parent from a different culture, and then another parent from, I guess in your

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case, the same culture. you're still kind of between cultures in a way, yeah, because even

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though you grow up in this culture and you also have a parent that's from that culture, you

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still have this whole other side of you. So do you ever feel like you're not fully of the

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American culture because you are tied to that Australian culture? What was that like, I guess,

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growing up, kind of having those two cultures in your household? identified mostly as an

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Australian. Oh. I was really close to my dad. Still, I'm really close to my dad. So I think

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that was something that was so deeply special to me that I could share with him. That was

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different than outside of my family, the people around us. So also, you know, it's just kind

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of unique. And I really enjoyed that. So yeah, I think growing up, I really called myself

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an Australian. I wished I'd lived there all the time. Mm-hmm. That's really unique. That's

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not what I expected actually. Yeah, I did not expect that. And I think I don't feel like

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I grew up in a household that was American and Australian because I think my mom really just

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let that culture kind of be our home. As much as we brought it in, I mean we did Australia

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Day, my mom had Australian cookbooks. Outside of that, I don't know that there was anything

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like super particularly Australian, latched on to that side of my family. It seems like

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your mother also really latched on to the culture as well, and really adopted it as her own.

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Can you explain to people who maybe don't know, like, what is Australia Day? And what do you

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typically do on that day? So Australia Day, usually there's a big barbecue with lamb and

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mint jelly and pavlovas and a whole bunch of food. And it's just a day we get together.

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Celebrate and honestly, I am a terrible Australian because I don't actually remember what Australia

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Day is I know it's been explained to me a dozen times and it's in one ear out the other But

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I know it's fun and important and we do watch the Australia Day Commercials for lamb Every

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year there's a new one and it's great. So I will say this is a little personal anecdote

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is that Ashley very kindly invited my husband and I over for us chili day one time. It's

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very, very good. Yeah, and for anyone who has never seen pavlova, we did have another guest

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at the party

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Great. Well, that's really fascinating that you identified so strongly with your dad's

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culture in that way that you thought of yourself as actually Australian more than American.

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Has that changed over time? Do you feel any less tied to Australia now or no? I think a

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little bit. I mean, I would still, like I'm still very proud of my Australian side. I think

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I've accepted the fact that I am mostly American. I live here. My husband is very patriotic and

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I love him for it. I do try though to still expose my kids to our Australian culture. I

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try to remind them that we have family over there, that they're big papa's, what we call

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my dad. It's from Australia. And I think as they get older, trying to explain Anzac Day

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and create more dishes in our home that are- Australian and hopefully one day get them over

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there to meet the rest of the family It's been our goal for about five years. How much family

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do you still have in Australia? So I have my Nana. I have my aunt Vicki and my uncle Craig

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and their family I think my cousin Troy doesn't live in Australia. He travels quite a bit I

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don't keep in touch with my cousins as much as I'd like I think as much as we love each

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other, we were never like super close. We were when we were together and then when we didn't

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really keep in touch when we were apart. So hopefully next time I see them, it won't be

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weird. Still be family. Yeah. So how many times have you visited Australia and what were those

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experiences like, especially when you were younger? I think when I was younger, we definitely went

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quite a bit. My mom was a flight attendant, so we were able to travel back and forth. pretty

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frequently, which was amazing. And just, we were so lucky for that. My cousins would make

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fun of me for being American. They would not think I was Australian at all, which was fair.

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Rude, but fair. And I think once my Aunt Vicki and my Nana did come to the States and that

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was really fun for us. But yeah, going over there was just amazing. To me, it really felt

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like home and it just, it was just

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so different than being here. The vibe, the culture, the landscape, of course, is very

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different. Being on the beach is amazing. And yeah, I really do miss it. Yeah, what's the

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flight like? Okay, so from Oregon, how long of a flight is that? Or how it breaks up? You

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would have to, in my experience, and I'm pretty sure it hasn't changed, You'll have to fly

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from Oregon to either LA or San Francisco. I think we usually went through San Francisco.

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Um, and then from there go to Australia. So I think it's about an hour and a half, two

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hours down to California. And then 17 hours over to, and we, I don't know, but we always

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ended up in business class, which was really nice. Okay. That is nice. Hey, that's great

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for a long distance flight. I remember my mom would always make us wear our Sunday best and

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say, you need to behave. So they'll put us in business class. Because I think we always went

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on standby. That was the, because she was a flight attendant. We were on standby. And yeah,

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we would try to sit very well behaved and in our nice little dresses. Yeah. Yeah, I think

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that holds up because I have a friend of mine whose mother was also flying attendant, I believe.

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Yeah, she used to wait on standby. Yeah. So did you ever live in Australia for any period

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of time? I, I lived there when I was in college for only about eight months. I got to college

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late and then I left and I never went back, which was not my plan. So I went to the school

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of ministry. at Oxford Falls, which is connected to our church, Christian City Church. And I

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went for their acting course and it was fun and it was amazing and I loved the whole experience.

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But I was very, very broke and the school term ended, I believe in December. So my mom was

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like, we're bringing you home from Christmas. I'm like, please don't bring me home for Christmas.

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I cannot afford to come back. And, but they did it anyways and I ended up. I'm starting

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a relationship with my husband and married him and did not go back. So. What was your experience

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like when you were there? Did you, I know you before you visited a lot, but living there,

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was it, did it kind of live up to what you hoped it would or do you miss it? I do miss it. Um,

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I think it did meet my expectations more or less. I think, you know, I was about 19 when

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I moved there and I I was living with my sister, but she traveled a lot and she was kind of

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out of the house quite a bit. So I was kind of living on my own. And I think for anyone

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who goes off on their college experience, you know, that's just so, so much going on and

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so many exciting new things and you're on your own. So I feel like that overlapped quite a

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bit of the experience of actually living there for the first time, but I did miss, I do miss.

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getting to just hop on a bus and go to the beach. I used to go down to Darling Harbor and take

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a ferry to Manly Wharf and do just walk around all over the place and do shopping and get

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to eat at my favorite restaurants. I think my favorite thing too was, because I only took

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the bus, was taking the bus down to Mona Vale, which is about where I lived. And there was

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a chip shop. and I would get sandwich bread, ketchup, and chips, French fries. And I would

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go home and make a chip sandwich. That sounds good. Yeah, okay. So it sounds like it's a

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very... Because I assume you didn't have a car. It sounds like you said, okay. But it's a place

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where you can take the bus, I guess, or public transportation. I feel like the public transportation

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was really easy, especially as a student. It was like really cheap for us. So awesome. Yeah.

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And I didn't ever thought I guess, yeah, if you're going there at 19, You're kind of on

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your own for the first time, figuring all that out, that makes sense that maybe, yeah, that's

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a lot as well, because I know when I was going off to college, I just went to Nashville, Tennessee

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for school, and I felt like, oh my gosh, what am I doing? So I can only imagine going to

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a different country, even if you are familiar with it in some way. Does that make sense?

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And were you living in the same city as where your dad's family is from, or were you in a

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different city? So my dad's family, a lot of them still live in Canberra, and my Nana at

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the time was living in Aladella, which was quite a ways from where I was. I was in Sydney. So

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the only family I really had close to me, like I said, was my sister, my older sister, but

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we just didn't really see each other as much as you think for people who live together.

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Right, yeah. Wow, okay. Well, that's really great that you had that experience, even if

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it was just for eight months. Yeah, that's really cool. So I wanted to kind of go back to when

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you were younger. So as I said, I feel like Australia is kind of one of those fascinating

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countries for Americans. So when you were growing up and you told people that your dad was from

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Australia, what was their reaction? As kids, most people would ask me to say banana. Oh

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my gosh. Really? Like immediately. But. I wouldn't because one, that's embarrassing and two, I'm

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like, I don't think my accent's that strong. So like, I think I can tell in like for myself,

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I know which words come out with an Australian accent and which ones don't and banana is not

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one of them. So and I think as I got older though, it comes up in conversation. My husband swears

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up and down that he does not hear my accent, but other people do. So they'll ask me where

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I'm from and I'll kind of hesitantly mention Australia because the first thing they'll say

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is, oh, I've always wanted to go. And I'm like, well, you should. There's no reason not to,

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except for how much it costs to get there. But yeah, I think I'm proud of it to be Australian,

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and I don't mind having the conversation, but it is for me. It's almost embarrassing because.

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Like I think you've mentioned, I don't feel like I fit in one category. I'm not really

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I'm not Australian enough to be Australian. I'm not American enough to be American. Yes.

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In between. That is what this podcast is about because we feel the same way. Yeah. And it's

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so funny that like you mentioned that some people hear accents and don't because like I think

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I knew I knew you before. So just for people who know Ashley and I used to go to church

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together. And like I think I met you first and I didn't actually catch on to the accent. We

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had I think. gone out to eat lunch and all these things plenty of times. So when my then boyfriend

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had come up to visit, he was like, oh, I think she's, is she Australian? And I was like, oh,

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I don't know. I was like, I've been around her so many times, but my husband was able to like

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recognize like off the bat. I think that you had that accent. So I think that's kind of

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interesting that some people are able to pick up on it so easily and then others can. So

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I don't know. Yeah. Yeah, I think for me,

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Maybe you can speak to this too. That seems like a very natural in your vocabulary. Have

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you found that you use certain Australianisms in your everyday language, I guess? A little

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bit. I think... Definitely when I had moved back from Australia, I think there were a lot

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of words that I'd picked up. There was such natural conversation for me that when I came

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back, I'm like, that's not a word for you, Cyr. I don't think so much now, like I said, especially

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I don't live near my dad anymore. So having conversations with him, I'm not hearing that

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Australian slang as much as I probably did living at home. So I do feel like I've lost that a

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bit, which bums me out. I just think that's really cool that you picked it up in the first

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place. Because like, you know, our parents have, well, I don't really hear their Jamaican accents

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that much, but yeah, but I have friends and they tell me that it's very strong. But like,

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and we didn't pick up anything, but maybe some incorrect pronunciations. I did learn that

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in college that I say certain things kind of incorrectly. But other than that, yeah, so

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I think that's really neat that you even picked up a little bit of an accent in the first place.

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So, yeah, yeah. Okay, so I believe you mentioned having siblings. Do you feel like your siblings

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feel the same way about your Australian culture as you do? Do they feel as tied to Australia

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as you do? I think so. I mean, at one point or another, each one of us has lived there.

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So I think we do all individually identify as Australian citizens. We do have... dual citizenship,

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which is really fun and easy for traveling. So I think for my brother, though, specifically,

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he really identifies with the Scottish side of our family, which I am not super familiar

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with. I know my granddad is from Scotland. Whereabouts? I couldn't tell you, but Preston has found

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our family crest. I think he's found a castle. He's done a lot of research into the Scottish

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side of our family, which is awesome. We've all dreamt of going there and trying to find

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some of our family. I think we have some distant relatives still over there. Wow. Um, that my

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Nana may or may not be in touch with. I'm not sure. Um, but yeah, so we have, all of us do

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identify as Australian, mostly in a small part of me, Scottish, but not enough that I would

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really announce that. Yeah. I love that you call your grandma Nana. Yeah, that's adorable.

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Yeah. And with the dual citizenship, is that something that you all have always had? And

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is that also something that your kids could have as well? Yes, I believe my kids can get

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it. So we all got our dual citizenship, I believe, about the time my twin sister and I turned

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18. I think it's possibly when Chelsea was moving, she got her dual citizenship. So we all got

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ours. Fun fact about that, when I did get my dual citizenship, my name was written differently

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on my birth certificate as every other document in my life. Oh my gosh. I think on my birth

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certificate, it was spelled E-Y, but everything else was E-I-G-H because that is the Australian

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spelling. Oh. Okay. So, and the Australian government was the only one to flag it, so I got denied.

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And I had to legally change the spelling of my name and then reapply for my passport. So,

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that was fine. I did not know that was the Australian spelling. Me either. Okay, because I don't

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see Ashley spelled that way very often. So, that's interesting. Okay, and where are you

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now? Yeah, yeah. I've always wondered why there are multiple spellings of Ashley, but now that

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makes a lot more sense. I think technically the EY spelling is a boy's name, or considered

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a boy's name. Oh, really? Okay. Very interesting. And you kind of touched on this earlier, but

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you mentioned you have kids now, and you try to make sure that they're still kind of connected

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to your Australian culture. So can you maybe talk about that a little bit more? How have

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you passed down some of what you were raised with as far as Australian culture to your kids

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and has it affected how you raise your kids too? Do you feel like you maybe, your kids

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are being raised a different way than maybe like a typical American parent would raise

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them? That's a good question. I think like I said, I feel like there was just such a natural

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Australian culture that my dad brought into our home I wouldn't really know the difference

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as far as like being raised in an American home versus a multicultural home. But I do think

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for my kids, like I said, it's very important to me that they understand like where we came

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from. And I think for me, I've always cared very deeply about my own history and where

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I've come from and the people that came before me. So that was always important to me to pass

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on to my kids even before I was married. Like I've said, I've tried to mention to them, you

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know, we're from Australia, my family's there and we'll take you guys some day. I try to

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point out things that are specific to Australia. We do still try to have Australia Day at home.

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And yeah, and then my husband, actually, his mom's side of the family is Hispanic. We're

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not sure, Spain or Mexico. His grandma will not give us a straight answer. And I've wanted

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so desperately for her or his mom to do an ancestry. whatever those DNA tests are, because it's

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important to me, but it's not just me. So I want them to know where they come from on their

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dad's side too. But if you ask him, he is just American. Yeah, sometimes, you know, yeah,

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not everyone's as tied to the cultural background. Was it 23andMe? 23andMe. That and Ancestry.

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I don't know what the nuances are between the two, but yeah, those are the two main ones

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I'm aware of. Yeah, maybe in later in life, they'll like... choose to do it on their own,

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and they'll be curious about it. Do you feel like your kids understand? I mean, your kids

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are very young, so do you feel like they kind of are understanding what you're trying to

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teach them as far as with Australia Day and with Australian culture at all? Are they interested

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in it? What are their reactions? I think they don't quite grasp the depth of it yet. Gary,

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who is going on five in a couple of weeks, he'll be five. He, I think, is almost understanding

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enough that I've like made it distinct enough that there is something special about that.

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I think my favorite thing right now is the show Bluey. I don't know if you guys heard of Bluey.

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I keep hearing good things about it. Yeah. So that show on its own is amazing. But the fact

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that it is Australian characters and I'm pretty sure it's set in there's this guy on Instagram

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who lives in Canberra and he's done like a walking tour, quote unquote, and like shown you things

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that are similar in the show to things that are in Canberra. And, um, so I do try to watch

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that show with the kids. One again, amazing show. So funny. I'll watch it on my own. Sometimes

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if I've had a really stressful day, I'll just put it on and watch it myself. Um, but in trying

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to use that to explain to my kids some of what is Australia and what's special about it and

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how that applies to them a little bit. Awesome. I've heard, okay, I've heard numerous times

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now about Bluey. I know this is not a show about the show, Bluey, but I'm so curious because

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I've heard it's like just as much for adults as it is for kids. Like the humor in it, I've

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heard is pretty. Is it? Yeah, I guess like it's I don't know. Is it just like I know how some

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animated stuff will kind of make the jokes or it's like. adult enough so that parents get

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it, but like kids and like, is it kind of like that or is it like, what makes you kind of,

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I guess, like that kind of show? I think it's very whimsical. It's very cute. The accents

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are fun to listen to. But it does have a lot of, I think it really does cater to parents.

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A lot of people have said that Bluey is like a love letter to parents because it really

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tackles the perspective of both. kids and parents, but in a just a really nice and happy way.

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Yeah. It's hard to explain if you haven't watched it, but as far as like parents go, it's not

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jokes that go over kids' heads as far as like crude or inappropriate, just relatable. And

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I think that's what means a lot to parents. And I like to watch it. There was an episode

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the other day I was watching and I actually told my husband Brandon how I really enjoyed

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it because something about that specific episode just reminded me of being in Australia and

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watching my dad and his brother interact. So that was really special. That's cool. I had

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no idea that it kind of had those vibes to it. So that's kind of neat that like, yeah, it's

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a good show in general. And then it also brings the Australian vibes. So that's pretty cool.

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Yeah, that's so and that's so nice that it brought that memory for you. That's so sweet. I love

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when art kind of like, you know, gives you certain vibes and memories. That's great. So I have

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some questions about. kind of just Australian culture in general but in the US, I feel like

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we have a lot of stereotypes I'm surprised that people would ask you to say banana whenever

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someone's like, oh, do an Australian accent,

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Can you speak to some stereotypes and misconceptions Roll your eyes out.

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use that phrase almost immediately. I refuse. I won't say it. I feel like my husband's probably

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done that, when he's interacted with Ashley. Yes, I won't do it. I, one, I would sound just

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as bad as anybody else trying to fake it. And two, it's just not really a phrase. I've actually

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heard people use it in person. She's debunked it. Okay. You know, there's a joke that everything

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Australia will kill you. Right? Yes, I have that. That's not untrue. That one's true. Okay.

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It's like Mythbusters, but it's for after 9 culture. I mean, the beaches are gorgeous.

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I don't think, nothing comes to mind that's not been like, somebody's asking me a question

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and I'm like, that's so far off base from reality. Because I think Australians themselves are

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pretty transparent people. They're pretty chill. What you see is what you get. So I feel like

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a lot of the information you get as far as like a lot of things are deadly is true. It's a

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beautiful place to live and people are generally pretty relaxed, which I think is one thing

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I miss the most. Yeah, that's what I've seen just in like interviews of like Australian,

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either celebrities or like athletes, they just seem so chill and laid back. And it sounds

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like that maybe holds true. I don't know. I think so. Yeah, okay. Yeah. Yeah, they don't

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have the same like, like live to work culture that we have in the US, I feel like as much.

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I don't know if that's, that's true, but yeah, I just feel like here in the US, I feel like

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we're stressed a lot and they seem so much more relaxed. Pretty slow pace. I think that's cool.

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Even in the city, I didn't feel like I was rushed to be anywhere. Yeah, that's neat. That's kind

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of cool. Well, one, one thing I have heard just from like watching, you know, like, I don't

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know, like Buzzfeed videos where they kind of like, um, debunk things about different countries

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and stuff. Australians seem to get kind of annoyed about the idea that they drink Foster's as

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well. So I think that was, no I don't know that I ever actually met anyone that drank Foster's.

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I think it is like branded as Australia's beer and I don't, that's not the case. I don't think

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I've ever seen anybody drink Foster's. Yeah, that's what I've heard. Can you tell us about

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some typical Australian foods? So we kind of talked about the pavlova, and you said how

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you used to eat chips and a sandwich kind of thing, which sounds very Australian slash British

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to me. So yeah, what are some typical Australian foods, I guess? So I guess, yeah, chips. It's

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not like, potato chips, it's French fries, but they like steak fries. They're just kind of

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thicker and seasoned really well. So yeah, when I would go home, I'd go to the shop and I'd

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get a nice hot bag of chips and a loaf of bread and some ketchup and make a little sandwich.

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And that would be one of my late night snacks. I'm trying to think lamb, prawns, I think.

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We were in Australia for Christmas once and we celebrated with a barbecue and prawns. And

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that was delicious. Because the seasons are opposite, aren't they? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Christmas

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barbecue. I was like, oh yes, that makes sense. My dad would joke about having growing up with

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Santa in the full beard and Santa hat and swim trunks. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, we understand that

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from growing up in Miami too, but yeah, but I mean, it's, yeah, it's different in Australia

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as well. Being, it being warm in wintertime. All right. So kind of piggybacking off the

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food conversation, I've heard a lot about Vegemite, can you just tell me like what it is and do

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you like eating it? Okay. So as far as Vegemite goes, that is where I draw the line on my Australian

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citizenship, I do not like Vegemite. It's disgusting. It's. I just can't, I can't even stand the

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smell of it. My dad will eat it. I think primarily most people eat it on toast, a very thin layer.

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You don't go heavy on that. Little butter and a little toast. I think my sister, my twin

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sister actually eats it as well. I might be wrong, but I'm pretty sure she's had, she eats

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it occasionally. How would you explain it? It's very salty. What it is? I don't know. It is

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brown. It is gooey. It is salty and it is pungent. OK, that's not aesthetically clean. OK, I don't

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love it. It's a love or hate it kind of thing. It seems like, yeah. And I think you could

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get it at McDonald's in Australia. You can get it at McDonald's. Small little packets like

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you would get ketchup. I think I was in third grade maybe when we went on our trip where

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we were there for Christmas and we brought some back and. We passed it out and of course it

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was the boys who were like super confident that they're going to try it and be totally fine.

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And one friend who we were adamant just taste a little bit, took a full scoop of it and immediately

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ran to the bathroom and threw up. So I don't recommend it as an Australian experience, but

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you know, if you wanted to go for it, go for it. Awesome. Yeah.

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So. Can you tell us about any stories that your dad maybe told you about growing up in Australia?

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Yes. I think my dad, I mean, he was a bit mischievous, so there's not a lot of stories I think he's

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been willing to tell. Okay. Most of his stories do come from his traveling. But when we would

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drive from, like I said, we'd go to Aladella, where my... Nano lived in this beautiful little

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pink house that if I remember right, my granddad and her built. Oh wow. They had a banana tree

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in the backyard. If you said banana, that was normal. And we'd drive from El Adela to Canberra

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and we'd take the same route. And there was Pooh's Corner. We'd be driving this windy road

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and it's just nothing's around, just trees. like cliffside and whatnot. And there's this

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little tucked away spot in the corner of the road that's just got a lot of poo bears. I

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don't know why, but it's Pooh's Corner. So we'd see that driving down. There is a bakery, Braidwood

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Bakery. We would stop there every time and get some baked goods and treats. I actually talked

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to a friend of mine whose family is from Canberra, and he would drive down to Aladella, and they

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would stop at the same bakery. Actually, he was a friend of mine at college and one of

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the first people I met. And I think I had called my dad and I said, Hey, I met this guy at college.

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He's really nice. And, um, he, we found out that my dad and his dad were actually friends.

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Oh my gosh. I think they were on the ship together. Oh, wow. And so that was crazy. Um, but yeah,

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so he had the same kind of memories going down to Eladela as I would from coming from Eladela

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to Canberra. And then dad would obviously point out tackle shops in places he used to go as

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a kid with his brother and sister That's cool. Yeah, that's really cool. I guess to kind of

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start wrapping up Just some basic questions. We'll start there's a negative one and there's

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a positive So we'll start with the negative first. Is there anything that you dislike about

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Australian culture at all? think the only thing and I hope I'm referencing this correctly is

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they have this thing called like tall poppy syndrome, which they think if anybody's getting

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like somebody who just seems to be succeeding or feeling too good about themselves or something,

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they want to cut them down to size. Like everyone's on the same level. There's an even playing

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field. You don't get to feel that great about yourself, which is kind of like I've heard

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the phrase and I would say living there, you know, I had some very encouraging friends.

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Yes, I had some wonderful people in my world living there, but I had seen that kind of attitude

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from other people towards people who were successful or feeling really good about themselves. So

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that's the thing outside of that, though, nothing else really comes to mind that quickly. No,

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that's really fascinating. Yeah. That's really fascinating. And the one side, it's good. It

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kind of breeds a sense of equality, I guess. But on the other hand, then you never get to

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feel good about your success. So yeah, I can see how that can be kind of a double edged

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sword there. And for the most positive part, what do you love the absolute most about Australia?

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Hmm. Hard to pick one. You can pick more than one. Yeah. I think it might sound cheesy, but

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far and above the fact that I have family there. That is probably my favorite thing. Next to

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that, just the kind of laid back culture, the relaxed vibes, it's easy to talk to people

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that you just meet. It's very friendly, but in a different way. I grew up in Oregon, and

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they're very friendly people. And the South is very friendly. pretty friendly, but Australia

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just had a very different way of being friendly, I guess. Yeah. Like everyone's included. And

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you don't have to wait for an invitation to a party, just kind of assume you're invited.

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So I do miss that a lot. I feel like it was easy to meet people over there. And the beaches.

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I mean, I'll always miss the beaches. Yeah, great. All right, I think. I think that's most

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of what we wanted to kind of talk about. Do you have any other questions, Melissa? No,

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I don't think so. I just want to thank you so much for like, you know, being willing to open

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up. Thank you for doing this. I just learned some, yeah, it was really cool to hear the

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beginnings of your dad and yeah, and how that's really like, I don't know, didn't pass down

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to you and it had such a large impact on you and your life. So yeah, thank you so much for

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just being willing to share your story with us. Thanks for having me, I appreciate it.

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Thank you so much to Ashley for taking the time for this interview. It was great to learn more

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about what it's like to be from the land down under and hear about her Australian roots.

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Thank you listeners for tuning in to the show. We hope you'll join us for another episode

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coming soon. As a new podcast, we'd really appreciate it if you left us a review on Spotify or Apple

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Podcasts or any other podcast player of your choice. It would really help us out and spread

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the word of the wonderful stories of our guests. Thank you again for tuning in and we'll catch

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you next time.