As defensive center, senior Ashlee Faul can see and take in everything that happens on the field, much like what she is doing in her one semester immersed in American culture.

Faul, from Adelaide in the south of Australia, is a political science major.

She said her transition to Simpson was fairly smooth on and off the field.

“The way we play at home is slightly different. Over here the play is a lot quicker, but we pass it around a lot more at home,” Faul said.

Faul has played at a lot of different levels and for many different teams in Australia.

“Ashlee is a good defender and brings diversity and experience to the team,” fellow defender Taylor Vaudt said.

Simpson’s team is more closely knit than some of the teams Faul has played for in the past.

She attributes this to everyone’s enthusiasm to play.

At her old college, there were less opportunities to get involved in sports, all of the students lived off campus and most of the students had part-time jobs instead of being students full-time.

The biggest adaptation Faul had to make was to the American food. “You eat peanut butter with everything,” she said. “I had s’mores the other day when we went camping. That was kind of weird and overly sugary. That’s the main thing — there’s a lot of sugar.”

As it turns out, Foster’s is not Australian for beer. “You can’t get it many places in Australia,” Faul said. “It’s not the main beer we drink. You can’t get it on tap anywhere. No one drinks Foster’s in Australia. Everyone just thinks we do.”

Faul will study at Simpson until mid-December when first semester ends. After, she will return to Australia to finish her senior year of college.