Where are you from? Oregon, I tell you!!!!

I may look crazy, but do I sound crazy too?

I'd be interested in meeting Henry Higgins (from My Fair Lady) because I'd like to see if he could guess where I'm from just from listening to me talk. I must have been asked at least 100 times in my life: "Where are you from?", meaning which country am I from. I must have an accent to most people's ears because I've been asked if I'm from Australia, Eastern Europe, Austria, New England, and a few other places. The funniest thing about it all is that probably 75% of the people who ask me about my "accent" are Oregonians (uh...people from Oregon for those of you who are scratching your heads right now), and maybe 10% of those people are in Ashland, my hometown. I was born AND raised in Ashland, Oregon.

When people ask "Where are you from?", I reply with "Oregon" if I'm out of state at the time, or I say "The Rogue Valley" or "Ashland" if I'm in Oregon. Every time, the people say "No, where are you ORIGINALLY from?". I then say I was born and raised in Ashland, Oregon, and they're amazed. Some refuse to believe that I'm telling them the truth. They're sure I'm from some exotic or far away place. Today while I was at the hospital filling out paperwork so I'm ready to have my baby at a moment's notice, the nurse (who happens to be from Ireland), looked at me and asked those all too familiar words "Where are you from?", and when she had only started with "Where are", I knew what she was asking and a smile crossed my lips as I glanced at Hyrum, who has heard people ask me this many times. I told her my usual response, and she of course asked me where I was from originally, so I again told her, and she was amazed. She was sure I was from Australia. Hmmm. So I'm wondering how many others think I sound as though I have a foreign, or New England accent. I wonder if I'll pick up an English accent after our visit to London, and then have everyone asking me if I'm from England. Do you think I have an accent?