01 - Backgrounds, Families and Green Card Marriages

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Tung Nguyen [0:18] 

Today and welcome to the first episode ever of the Rice and Mics podcast. I'm your host, Tung Nguyen. And today I'm joined with Michelle Hua, show how you going today?

Michelle Hua [00:31]

Hey, hey, hey, I’ve been alright? It's pretty hot.

Tung Nguyen [00:34]

Yeah, so were based in Australia, we're both of Asian, Australian ethnicity. And the point of this podcast is pretty much to get a better grasp of what really experiences the sort of hardships that some of us may face. I hear a lot of other podcasts about Asian Americans. And I didn't see any podcast that sort of put it into an Australian perspective. But we'll probably get a little more into the differences between the two later. So, a little bit about us. I am 23, living in Sydney Cabramatta, which is predominantly of Asian ethnicity. I didn't really have what's the term I'm looking for?

Michelle Hua [01:19]

Exposure.

Tung Nguyen [01:21]

Not necessarily exposure but more. So, fitting in, let's say.

Michelle Hua [01:25]

I like identity crisis kind of thing.

Tung Nguyen [01:28]

Not necessarily a crisis.

Michelle Hua [01:29]

Needing to fit in.

Tung Nguyen [01:31]

Yeah. So, if you're not familiar with Cabramatta, it's the whole area, it's really multicultural. So, you’ve got Cabramatta, which is mostly about Vietnamese ethnicity, or Chinese. And then you've got Fairfield, which is about 10, 15-minute drive, and that's sort of jumps into the middle eastern, is it? I mean, if you go through the whole, like 10-20-kilometer radius, you're gonna jump into a lot of different cultures and a lot, a lot of different people. So yeah, going back to that point, I went to school locally, in Cabramatta High.

Michelle Hua [02:06]

That will be a public school.

Tung Nguyen [02:08]

Yeah, yes. That's public school. Yeah, parents always pushed me to go into selective school. You're not familiar with that. It's one of those schools where you do require, like an entrance exam to get into the school. So currently, I'm just working as a data center technician, up in the city, in the CBD, swimming around currently in between IT jobs, so it's going okay, so far. Okay, so with my family, I've got a mum and dad, and two older brothers. So I'm 23 they are 26 and 30.

Michelle Hua [02:40]

Have you got any family in Australia and they all overseas?

Tung Nguyen [02:44]

Now they're all overseas, so I've only got I've only got one other uncle, but he doesn't have any sort of wife or kids.

Michelle Hua [02:50]

Okay.

Tung Nguyen [02:51]

Yeah.

Michelle Hua [02:52]

It's just, it's just a bit funny because we're like completely opposite. When it comes to family and like family signs. Well, I I'm also at the same age, I'm 23. But I was born in a suburb called Urban, which was mostly Lebanese, both my mum's grandparents and my dad's grandparents emigrated from China to Vietnam and gave birth to my parents there. My parents were Vietnamese, they are Vietnamese that migrated to Australia and gave birth to me. I'm the only one. I'm an only child born at Auburn.

Tung Nguyen [03:25]

Okay, and what's our relationship? What is that?

Michelle Hua [03:28]

Oh, yeah, we're just a couple of besties.

Tung Nguyen [03:31]

Okay. Besties is what you mean for dating for nearly five years now? Coming up soon.

Michelle Hua [03:38]

And couple a couple of besties.

Tung Nguyen [03:40]

A couple of besties, couple of besties.

Michelle Hua [03:43]

Yeah. I went to a private primary school, when we moved to Cabramatta it was very dangerous. I'd say it was a stereotypical dangerous place where all the kings were like five t, which is very iconic in Cabra and like, very iconic drug area. So, we had to move at Cabra because it was probably the only affordable suburb that we could rent a place because my parents own only just migrated. My mum worked at you know, sewing clothes, which is very common in an Asian household and you're literally making like a couple cents every piece of clothing so they couldn't really afford anywhere so far then cover so we moved to cover matter and they weren't the safest option for me which, so they took me to a private public school. Private fuck private primary school. Sorry.

Tung Nguyen [04:41]

Wait was Auburn usually quite crime rampant?

Michelle Hua [04:44]

Oh, yeah. My house got broken into multiple times, actually. It's gotten broken into multiple times. Only because we used to live in like a garage. So it's very easily. It's a very easy access… I’d say house.

Tung Nguyen [05:03]

No lock in the garage?

Michelle Hua [05:03]

No security. It's just it's just a regular door and unlock. They can break the window. Anything to just climb in. But any source of security we had was my cousin's dog, which did chase the burglar away from my mum when she came home. He chased her…

Tung Nguyen [05:21]

What kind of breed was up?

Michelle Hua [05:22]

Oh yeah, iconic, staffy. Yeah, I think he got put down only because it was aggressive.

Tung Nguyen [05:27]

Staffy.

Michelle Hua [05:27]

Yeah.

Tung Nguyen [05:29]

 Actually, no, let me just pull up anyway. It's pretty big.

Michelle Hua [05:34]

Yeah, people have very bad assumptions that it's a, you know, like a bulldog, like a fighter dog. But they actually really lovely if you take care of them properly.

Tung Nguyen [05:44]

Well, that's another discussion entirely. You went up when you said dog? Like, I think a lot of people think of Asian households.

Michelle Hua [05:51]

Pomeranians, Chihuahuas, Maltese?

Tung Nguyen [05:51]

Yeah, exactly. Yeah, exactly. You don't really see that big kind of dog in an Asian household. They always prefer this smaller type of dog things.

Michelle Hua [06:02]

Pocket pets.

Tung Nguyen [06:03]

Yeah, essentially, stuff is a little bit surprising. So, you got broken into a few times? Yes. And you moved to Cabra. Was there any sort of improvement in terms of crime there?

Michelle Hua [06:18]

I didn't think anything bad as of happened when we moved to Cabra one like really weird, supernatural stuff in my old house. But nothing, nothing like crime related. No, actually, it was my mum aye. So there was a time where my mum witnessed a guy getting stabbed. Like at the back. So we used to live in front of this old rundown Leisure Centre, which has been renovated. She was driving home and she witnessed a guy getting stabbed there had to call cops and everything. But I think that's certainly one.

 Tung Nguyen [06:53]

Damn. It's so casual. But what about the supernatural things? Every time I talk to my parents, they always have some sort of ghost stories.

Michelle Hua [07:02

Oh, yeah, same. Yeah, yeah.

Tung Nguyen [07:03]

To tell me and I hate hearing it because then I can't sleep for the rest of the night.

Michelle Hua [07:07]

I think for like Asians, there are good ghosts and bad ghosts.

Tung Nguyen [07:13]

In the what the Law or something? [inaudible 07:16]. I think it is.

Michelle Hua [07:21]

So I think because I know there was like my mum said there was like a ghosts that she they used to live with. Used to live with her and the family in Vietnam.

Tung Nguyen [07:31]

Used to live with her.

Michelle Hua [07:32]

Yes.

Tung Nguyen [07:33]

Did she say that right? Really nonchalant.

Michelle Hua [07:35]

Yeah, like its normal. She's not scared of ghosts. Like it was a good ghost. She said that you look after the family brought good doc to the house in the business and anything.

Tung Nguyen [07:44]

How would they look after it?

Michelle Hua [07:48]

You know how they put those like plates, sacrificial plates of food that it leaves they leave outside with incense.

Tung Nguyen [07:56]

What kind of foods that you put on that plate?

Michelle Hua [07:59]

Mostly vegetarian, I think. Just like right, sometimes just like a bowl of rice and like, whatever they made. And then after that they can eat it.

Tung Nguyen [08:06]

You ever burn money as well?

Michelle Hua [08:09]

Burning money is like the fake money. That one's more for like Chinese. For like, so it's like brand new year burning, everything you're burning. It's pretty much the smoke goes up to the gods. So you're burning money and the money is going up to God.

Tung Nguyen [08:25]

So not necessarily to your relative?

Michelle Hua [08:27]

Oh, actually, I think it might be to your relatives and like your ancestors. And God. I actually don't I never really asked.

Tung Nguyen [08:37]

So all right. Well, parents immigrated. What year was that? Actually didn't ask.

Michelle Hua [08:45]

Oh boy.

Tung Nguyen [08:46]

Roughly.

Michelle Hua [08:47]

Probably like a year or two before I was born so 94, 95 I think I think my dad immigrated here a lot earlier. Graduated from helps wholesome boys or oxen boys host I think also wholesome boys. He came here illegally by he got caught once went to jail and then came back. Yeah. My mum was lucky enough to get a plane ticket here. From my dad.

Tung Nguyen [09:11]

You’re not allowed to take a boat in?

Michelle Hua [09:13]

No, that's illegal.

Tung Nguyen [09:15]

Why do you need planes now?

 Michelle Hua [09:17]

Huh?

Tung Nguyen [09:18]

What if you take a cruise? Second?

Michelle Hua [09:21]

No, it's an illegal boat, like a tight little boat from Vietnam. And they sell it all the way to here or they go to like Vietnam to Malaysia and Malaysia to Sydney. Like it's an illegal boat.

Tung Nguyen [09:34]

It sounds like the path that my parents took.

Michelle Hua [09:36]

It's pretty much no documentary, no documentation. That's why.

Tung Nguyen [09:40]

Right.

Michelle Hua [09:41]

Because to be a citizen in Australia, you going to have all these proper documents. Legitimate see or why you want to be an Australian citizen as well. So what mum I think what my parents did was my dad came here illegally, got proper documents, got my mum here married, and then when they have a kid, when you have a kid in Australia, I think that makes you an Australian citizen. I think I'm not 100% Sure, we need to look that up, but

Tung Nguyen [10:10]

I will check it out later. I'm pretty sure it's a lot different now. From what I know, with the citizenship test, and you got to know like a bunch of other things about the Australian.

Michelle Hua [10:20]

Oh, yeah, there's like a quiz or something.

Tung Nguyen [10:19]

Yeah, yeah. So um, I'm just having a browse through it now. Actually, I can't answer this myself.

Michelle Hua [10:26]

Um, and there's also like, I think it's similar when people do green cards. So they do interviews as well to see if you guys are actually in the relationship. So the asked questions about your spouse, just to see the legitimacy of the relationship?

Tung Nguyen [10:38]

Have you heard of anything about that green card marriage before?

Michelle Hua [10:43]

I'm not gonna say who has done it, but I do have experience of it. I mean, hearing from people and experience. But I'm not gonna say who I know, I think it's yeah. Essentially, it's just someone from a different country wanting to become an Australian citizen. So they find someone from Australia who'd want to do a fake marriage, just to bring that person to become an Australian citizen. Essentially, what they do is they pay half of this an amount. And then when they become a citizen, they pay the full amount. Mostly, it ranges from like, 80k to 100, depending on the person, I think it takes a while as well, they got to do so many interviews, they got to take so many photos to show that they're in a happy relationship. They got to do a wedding, they got to have like a lawyer, they got to do like joint fake joint accounts. So maybe open like a bank together.

 Tung Nguyen [11:38]

80,000 that's a lot of money. How does that get sorted? If the money is getting sent to the right people, and it's actually going to get to your bank account?

Michelle Hua [11:47]

I'm pretty sure it's like, cash.

Tung Nguyen [11:50]

Wouldn't be really simple for someone who's go, Hey, I'm gonna marry you. And he just grabs a bag of cash, and he flies back home.

Michelle Hua [11:58]

Well, most of the time, its people you know, so like, family, friends, you don't just, you know, put on Gumtree or anything. It's not like that.

Tung Nguyen [12:09]

So like, you know, your aunt calls you on Viber or Zalo. And she's like, Hey, hey, Michelle, do you remember Steve from down the road? 10 years ago, when he visited, he wants to go and get married to your ass. So I can, you know, get citizenship in Australia? How does that sound he saved up 80 grand in the bank, it's all yours. And when you just Western unions use the money or something.

Michelle Hua [12:32]

There's interviews, most of the time, they'll interview the spouse like the parents just to see how trustworthy they are. Most of the time, that also just give 41st. So if it's at the 41st, and then once you can citizen, pick up the rest.

Tung Nguyen [12:46]

You could easily get that 40 grand first anyway.

Michelle Hua [12:50]

Well, yeah, that's the thing. A lot of people have done that. So that happened to someone I know. It was with a very close, like, reception from a doctor's that we knew for years. So we built this relationship with her for so long. And the person I knew pay paid the receptionist upfront about 40, 30 40k. and then they just like that they skipped Sydney, like, I don't know where they moved then Ivan's in Sydney anymore. For 430K.

Tung Nguyen [13:22]

That sounds like an unreasonable amount of money to leave your life full.

Michelle Hua [13:26]

But most of the time when people do these kind of things are coming in the desperate position in the first place. Because.

Tung Nguyen [13:32]

Certain I was like gambling those online.

Michelle Hua [13:34]

Maybe I need because it's such a long process for me. Like it's quick money. But it's so on the tedious side, say, yeah, and you got to be so precise and details. You got to it's like rim, you got to remember this person who doesn't mean anything to you. You got to remember everything about them just to pass this quiz. You know,

Tung Nguyen [13:53]

What are they even asked like, what’s your favorite dish? And then they both get you to write it down in an interview.

Michelle Hua [13:58]

We're like, oh, when did you how did you guys me? What's your anniversary day? What does his family consist of? Does he have any siblings? Does he have children? I actually don't know. Something like that.

Tung Nguyen [14:12]

I felt like I might get some of these questions wrong, even if they ask, you know,

Michelle Hua [14:16]

Simple questions like Oh, can you tell me your spouse's full name you'd like to know when? Like, obviously then they'll be like, okay, something's up. Yeah, so like, it's not that easy.

Tung Nguyen [14:32]

Alright, a little bit off track on that one.

Michelle Hua [14:36]

What we talking about ?

Tung Nguyen [14:37]

Apologies about my voice. I'm a little bit still sick.

Michelle Hua [14:40]

From the Coronavirus?

Tung Nguyen [14:42]

Yeah. Well, at the time of recording this podcast, it's Chinese New Year. There's a bit of a Coronavirus scare that's happening and we're going overseas in about a week, both to Hong Kong and Japan. So it's a little bit scary, but I think we should be fine.

Michelle Hua [15:01]

What's the little scheme to?

Tung Nguyen [15:04]

What's the harm? Right?

Michelle Hua [15:06]

We're gonna get claimed some travel insurance.

Tung Nguyen [15:09]

Its 50, 50 chance here we get Oh, you not only don't get it.

Michelle Hua [15:14]

100% statistics?

Tung Nguyen [15:16]

 Yeah, that's it.

Michelle Hua [15:21]

It's a joke.

Tung Nguyen [15:23]

I think I know.

Michelle Hua [15:24]

Are you shower?

Tung Nguyen [15:25]

Well we should probably clarify that later. So yeah, we did get a bit off track. I think we really should go a little bit more in depth with what our parents went through. Just owe that to them. They didn't move to Australia, man. I don't know what my life would be if I lived in Vietnam.

Michelle Hua [15:49]

100% different.

Tung Nguyen [15:51]

Did your parents live in China? Was it Hong Kong?

Michelle Hua [15:54]

Not? So my grandma, my grandparents, either my grandparents, my great grandparents. Were from China. Then they moved to Vietnam. Migrant migrants, Vietnam. I think maybe from the war something. Grandpa served for the war.

Tung Nguyen [16:11]

Yeah, right.

Michelle Hua [16:12]

I have no idea. But my dad's side. I never really spoke they passed away really early in my life. So I never really spoke with them.

Tung Nguyen [16:21]

Well, you mentioned that you live a little bit differently. Well, your life's a little bit different to mine. So in regards to parents, so I've got both of my parents still together. Mum and Dad. What's different about yours?

Michelle Hua [16:34] 

Yes, so my parents divorced when I was 8, 9. You five? How old was that?

Tung Nguyen [16:46]

Like 10?

Michelle Hua [16:49]

Yeah, but then, long, long, longer than half my life already. They've been divorced. I don't have any siblings as well, which is very different for me. So whenever you have lower sibling arguments, I don't understand. So I was raised by single mother, just my mum and I, she'd work nine to five. So I'd always be home alone till five o'clock. But my dad noise come every morning just to drive me to school because my mum worked in the morning. My dad worked at night, which was really good. I get to see my dad. You know, once, once every five No. five days a week for school? Which was I mean, I'm thankful for.

Tung Nguyen [17:35]

Okay, well, I believe either next week, or the next one. After that. We'll bring in a few other guest speakers who we can sort of go a little bit more in depth and answer a few more questions in regards to that. But we'll leave it at that for now. And we'll continue on. So did your mum did she meet re marry anyone?

Michelle Hua [17:53]

So she used to work in a different company. And it's pretty much a Yes, she used to work at the assembly line. She had a mate there. He was married, she was married. They both had kids. She moved to a different assembly factory, he moved to a different assembly factory, they bumped there, they both were divorced them. And then they became a couple. They're not married, though. They're just they said that they're very sick of the title of marriage. So they just want to be boyfriend girlfriend, which I think makes sense. I mean, you had a wedding once you don't want to wedding again and then have the hardship of divorcing again. It's expensive.

Tung Nguyen [18:36]

I think weddings are fun.

Michelle Hua [18:39]

Weddings are fun, but expensive just to get a documentation where you've really gotten before.

Tung Nguyen [18:44]

But it's more of the sanctity of, let's say locking it in Eddie with another person.

Michelle Hua [18:51]

But is it worth it that maybe it's just the age thing. We're still young. We want to get married, experienced that but they've already experienced all that experience. Marriage, having kids and divorce as well. They don't want to go back to that pattern again. Maybe?

Tung Nguyen [19:08]

Yeah, they got the whole shebang under their belt. Yeah. All right. Oh, that's interesting. You're going to a lot of weddings.

Michelle Hua [19:16]

More than you beetch.

Tung Nguyen [19:17]

Okay, alright. So previously, we mentioned my family here and just an uncle. Yeah, okay, so you've got?

Michelle Hua [19:28]

I've got my whole family's here, except for like, probably two or three aunties and uncles.

Tung Nguyen [19:35]

What’s the whole family?

Michelle Hua [19:38]

It’s whole to the point where I don't know there’s too many.

Tung Nguyen [19:42]

Okay, roughly how many? Let's get all your aunts, uncles, cousins. Let's combine them together. How many of them total do you think you have?

Michelle Hua [19:51]

It's really like kids. Like kids.

Tung Nguyen [19:53]

All right, let's, let's see.

Michelle Hua [19:55]

I'd say probably in the hundreds, hundreds. 100. Yeah.

Tung Nguyen [20:02]

Like I've met like, 50. And, yeah, I'm only halfway.

Michelle Hua [20:08]

There are heaps on my dad's side that I don't know who they are. But they're related to me somehow. Because I think my, my dad's side, total. I think there's like 11 kids, including my dad. And then my mum's side. Its five kids, including my mum. Yep. But in the whole family tree, it's only my mum that has one kid. So everyone else has at least two. So they're just, you know, multiplying.

Tung Nguyen [20:45]

None of the kids love them.

Michelle Hua [20:47]

Yeah, it's I think it's just an Asian thing. They everyone loves kids. They need kids or something. It's it's Yeah.

Tung Nguyen [20:54]

So what what's your ideal? Well, what's a good number of kids to have?

Michelle Hua [20:59]

I'd say two.

Tung Nguyen [21:02]

Two generally.

Michelle Hua [21:04]

I won't like be sad. If I get a three as an accident. It's, I don't really think oh, what are you expecting to you know, like, abort it. No.

Tung Nguyen [21:16]

Alright. That's not the argument entirely. That's not what I'm gonna get into it. This isn't that kind of podcast.

Michelle Hua [21:22]

Yeah. That's too controversial.

Tung Nguyen [21:26]

Alright, moving on.

Michelle Hua [21:27]

What about you? What are your family? Like? We've been talking about my side but your side. We haven't. Haven’t heard much about your mum, your dad, your grandparents.

Tung Nguyen [21:37]

So when I was born, I've only in that time frame, I've only met my grandma on one side. She was the one that was alive at the time. So my parents had me pretty late. I think. Either 40 she's.

Michelle Hua [21:54]

Your parents are like one generation difference from my parents. Right?

Tung Nguyen [21:59]

Yeah. So I think my parents are actually at the same age as Michelle's grandparents, funnily yeah. But they don't look like it. A lot of people say that.

Michelle Hua [22:21]

Your parents look very young.

Tung Nguyen [22:14]

 From what, I don't know, you know, stage and genetic. When I go through that, until you hit like, probably like 80 is all those outlying.

Michelle Hua [22:24]

Multiple Oh, no, not metaphors.

Tung Nguyen [22:27]

And I think my mum's already past that phase. Actually. I don't know if that's something to say. But so yeah, I went to last time I saw my grandma was and I was in year six. We went to Vietnam, like every three years when we were younger. You six was like the last time we ever went. That was the last time I saw I didn't really know what to do. Well, so.

Michelle Hua [22:53]

I said she passed already.

Tung Nguyen [22:57]

Yeah, I think might have been, like, five, six years ago. I wasn't really too close with her. I didn't really know. Yeah, because they're all in Vietnam. My dad's got two other brothers. One of them has passed as well. There's only one of my uncle. He speaks English, which is why I liked him when we were in Vietnam. Because I couldn't really speak a lot of you. Even now. I'm not that great. I can get around. But I'm like, lagging in my head takes me like, like a hamster wheel running when I got to think of a word to translate.

Michelle Hua [23:34]

I think that's right Normal.

Tung Nguyen [23:36]

Yeah. So my parents always put me into view at school.

Michelle Hua [23:41]

Is say like, in your household? What language do you speak?

Tung Nguyen [23:44]

They've always pushed me to speak to him.

Michelle Hua [23:50]

So like, would you get told off if you mix Vietnamese with English?

Tung Nguyen [23:54]

Not when I was trying to translate it. And then I just asked them what the word was specified directly to speak English to him. I find that a bit weird. I guess I've sort of been raised in that that Herrick.

Michelle Hua [24:06]

Butt for more speaking.

Tung Nguyen [24:09]

Yeah. So parents always say, so if they like let's say, she goes, have you? You know, have eaten rice yet? And then I would say like, yeah, and gum rhyme it. So the rabbit at the start means yes, comma. I have eaten rice, comma, mum. Right. And then, you know, if you put into like a Western perspective, it's always like, oh, yeah, I've eaten already. It's a lot more. And I think they pushed me a lot more to speak in a more formal tone or in an Asian the household it's always been into one way or another.

Michelle Hua [24:51]

To respect elders.

Tung Nguyen [24:53]

I mean, I mean that literally as well. Not just figuratively.

Michelle Hua [24:59]

Is that is that a topic Jonas? Talk about getting beaten.

Tung Nguyen [25:04]

That's every household.

Michelle Hua [25:07]

I guess I never, I thought getting hit was very normal. Until I started watching like, YouTube videos of some, like non-Asian people. And how reading Facebook articles. I know Facebook, right? Facebook comments about people be how abusive it is to get beaten by your parents. But I didn't know. I thought it was so normal.

Tung Nguyen [25:36]

I thought the same as well. I remember looking, or watching videos have or movies about, like Western families eating dinner at a table, and they would just be so normal about it. And then my parents always be like, Can I put both your arms on the table? It makes you eat all your rice. And then they would always say stuff like, all the next one was coming, you actually eat all your rice, okay? And this and that other thing where it's like, for every one grain of rice that you don't eat, that'll turn into a maggot in the afterlife that you have to eat. Because you're wasting food. And in the equivalent of that fleck noodles would be a worm and that would get us to eat. I don't know if your parents might have done the same.

Michelle Hua [26:24]

She did something similar. I think she said it will. It's something got to do with the more you don't the more you throw out the something that is withheld. I don't remember. Near but I throw out a lot of stuff anyway.

Tung Nguyen [26:42]

Pretty bad. Pretty bad. News. So moving on. I did have one of so okay, I've talked about my dad's side. Mum’s side she has I think 10 siblings from not wrong. Might be nine. Wait, she I remember she did mention that one of them was still one I think.

Michelle Hua [27:04]

But will that count? Because if stillborn count then I'm the second child.

Tung Nguyen [27:07]

Okay, let's not get into that.

Michelle Hua [27:09]

Okay.

Tung Nguyen [27:13]

Yeah, so we had I had two of her brothers living here. So she had her youngest brother. He lived here until I think about you five or six. He moved back to Vietnam. And he didn't like the lifestyle heals too much work or something like that. Thinks what she told me. That could be something else. But then I've got I think it's her second eldest. Who still lives here? But he's got no wife. No kids. He's been with us for a while. I'm always like teases him about it. Like all I know, it says lol, so he's always grumpy. That's why it's always angry. It's gonna wife and I was like, Okay. All right.

Michelle Hua [28:00]

Maybe just prefers to be by himself?

Tung Nguyen [28:04]

I don't know. Maybe, maybe. But yeah, so I don't have any cousins are all here. Which is why it was a lot different. Seeing such an extended family when I started dating Michelle. And yeah, it's never been to a wedding. Which is pretty fun. The first time I went, where Michelle broke my wedding cherry. Take me to her cousin's one. A lot of fun, very cute.

Michelle Hua [28:31]

Weddings a cool one.

Tung Nguyen [28:32]

Unfortunately, none of our friends because we're only 23 none of us will not in our circles have been married yet. And I think that's the sort of thing with Asians that you don't really get married until you have your career.

Michelle Hua [28:46]

Yeah true, true, true.

Tung Nguyen [28:49]

Even now, I don't with that culture where you're supposed to live with your parents. When they get old to look after them. You don't see a lot of people our age moving out. A lot of people still live at home.

Michelle Hua [29:05]

Plus, it's very expensive.

Tung Nguyen [29:06]

Yeah, I don't know if you guys, depending where you're listening from. It's very expensive to be purchasing any real estate in Sydney. So it's much easier to just live at home. And just travel pretty much do whatever you want in the money.

Michelle Hua [29:23]

I think parents just prefer the child is living with them because I can keep the eye on them forever. Ah. I think he's very stereotypical for Asian parents to want you to raise your children with them as well. They want you to same house. Yeah. Or maybe it's just my parents. I know for like my girls. They've said the same thing as well. Like they their mums always wanted them to stay at home. With the husband in.

Tung Nguyen [29:52]

Sorry, you girls you mean your mates? Yeah.

Michelle Hua [29:56]

Yeah. Okay, my close friends. Mums always just want us to move in with our husbands. Or sorry, our husband moved in with us and us to have kids and then they can always be in that kid's life.

Tung Nguyen [30:12]

Yeah, maybe you do need that that level of privacy to have just having your own house. I guess that’s the downside.

Michelle Hua [30:21]

I guess yeah. I guess it's also a downside that I'm in any child so she doesn't want to stop.

Tung Nguyen [30:24]

By stop. You mean.

Michelle Hua [30:27]

Stop treating me. She doesn't know when to stop treating me like a baby.

Tung Nguyen [30:32]

Right. So she’s very protective still.

Michelle Hua [30:35]

Yes, I have curfew still.

Tung Nguyen [30:37]

Curfew’s at 23, now that’s something you wouldn’t really hear.

Michelle Hua [30:39]

Yes, I have curfews if I don't come home in time I got a call message. Or I will get kicked out.

Tung Nguyen [30:50]

Kicked out. Literally kicked out.

Michelle Hua [30:54]

Yes. Which I haven't tested that yet. I haven't tested the water.

Tung Nguyen [30:58]

You should ever reach.

Michelle Hua [31:00]

No, no, no. I know. She will do it. So. I'm not doing it. I won't test it.

Tung Nguyen [31:06]

Okay. All right. So I always have her in bed by 10 and then have a home by 12.

Michelle Hua [31:16]

What?

Tung Nguyen [31:18]

Yeah, that's what I said.

Michelle Hua [31:21]

Have her in bed by ten go home by 12?

Tung Nguyen [31:31]

Get her home by 12. Get the joke?

Michelle Hua [31:34]

No.

Tung Nguyen [31:35]

So it's like if I if I rocked up the house and let's say mum goes what are your intentions? My daughter and I'll say get her in bed by 10 and then have at home by 12.

Michelle Hua [31:46]

On your bed.

Tung Nguyen [31:49]

Yes, how did it take you so long to figure that one out?

Michelle Hua [31:56]

It was so funny.

Tung Nguyen [31:59]

Thanks. It's that’s all it is. This relationships is always being demeaned on this side. Constant roasting. Okay, we're just gonna leave it at that for now. Keep it nice and short. This is our first time doing something like a podcast. So any feedback concerns something else you want to talk about? Anything at all? Send us an email. So that's at ricenmicspodcast@gmail.com and make sure it's rice n. So just the letter N not and one more time. That's ricenmicspodcast@gmail.com thanks for listening and we hope to catch you guys in the next one. Bye.

Michelle Hua [32:47]

Bye, bye.