Chris & Me In Berets (cheesiness intended) at The Narrow

I wonder sometimes what my life would’ve been like if the Internet had never existed. I imagine I’d have a pretty boring job and know very little about the world. I’d probably only have met a fraction of the people I know today too. Of the people I wouldn’t have met, there are a few that I would’ve wished I had and Christine Estima is one of those few.

Chris was a fellow Top 50 candidate for the Best Job in the World and we’ve kept in touch via e-mail, Twitter and Facebook ever since. She decided to venture over to the West coast for some of our world-famous outdoor thrills so we finally had an opportunity to meet in person this week!

If you read Chris’ blog and tweets before meeting her, you’ll feel like you’ve already met because her writing is so true to herself. We gabbed for hours with barely a breather and if the concept of time didn’t exist we’d probably have been able to chatter on for a while longer. This girl has loads of energy, a ‘tude to match, and the worst dating stories ever (LOL)! She’s a hoot and a half and I can’t wait to see her when she returns from her action packed week in Whistler. <3

Sidenote: All skytrain stations should have internet booths! My phone died on my way to meet Chris and I didn’t have her number written down. We had been in the middle of a text chat about where and when to meet so I wasn’t sure where I was supposed to be. I was close to asking someone with a data plan if s/he could send a tweet on my behalf but it all worked out in the end and I spotted her across the street.

Everyone and their pumpkins at the annual Rogers’ Pumpkin Carving Party

I hung out with fellow Best Job candidates Erik Rolfsen and Marcella Moser in Vancouver (Canada), had dinner with James Hill and Greg Reynen in Brisbane (Australia), met up with Mitch Moffit in Townsville (Australia), and now I can tick Steven Rogers off my list too! It’s too bad Cali Lewis wasn’t in Texas at the time.

To be honest, I had forgotten Steven lived in Texas (even though his Twitter account is @Steven_in_Texas ). My bad. The last I remembered through our Best Job e-mail threads (everyone still keeps in touch), he was climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa and roaming the streets of Europe! I received a message from him when we first arrived in Amarillo, Texas asking where we were planning on going in Texas and if we would be passing his way. He invited us to his family’s annual Pumpkin Carving Party, and we happily accepted his invitation!

Steven, his family and friends are all very typical Southerners. And by that I mean that they’re super friendly! I really like the feeling of New Mexico and Texas because everyone is generally nicer down south.

There were heaps of neighbourhood kids and their parents at the party all happily chatting, munching on cookies and candies, and taking part in their 20+ year tradition of carving pumpkins together. The Rogers family have a large dining room table covered in photos from past pumpkin carving parties including one where Steven is sporting an ‘80s mullet (my fav). LOL

Throughout the home, there are pictures of all their travels (and the whole family has travelled a lot). After a little tour, we started carving our pumpkins and mingling over cookies. A great time was had, and the pumpkins turned out fairly well. The only bad part of the afternoon was the attack of the mosquitoes. Both Ang and I get allergic reactions from mosquito bites and I was unfortunately bitten on the forehead. Ugh.

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Thank you to Steven and the Rogers Family for inviting us into your home!

Toshio and my half eaten breakfast in the background

It’s 9:08am and I’m clicking refresh on the Island Reef Job site every 30 seconds. I wonder how rich I’d be if I got a $1 from every time I refreshed the page this year. I’d probably be able to afford an Island Caretaker lifestyle for a month.

I wonder what Tourism Queensland has up their sleeves for this round of “competitions.” I also wonder whether I wouldn’t be considered if I entered because I’ve already had my 15 minutes with this whole campaign. Fellow candidates and friends Jackie from Singapore and Christine from Canada have been following along and are probably wondering the same thing.

9:20am: Why hasn’t anything changed yet? Did I get the date wrong? *checks date* No, it’s right. It’s August 26. Why are there no tweets about it?

It’s been said that everyone in the world is connected within six degrees of separation. In Brisbane, it’s more like two.  — me.

You know how “social media evangelists” and die-hard twits are always telling people they should be using Twitter because it’s the greatest thing since sliced bread? I don’t always agree with their stats (they usually say something about how there are x million number of users etc. when really only a small fraction of those accounts are in use) nor do I think Twitter is for everyone.

When I tell people I’m a twit, they usually ask what Twitter is and whether I think it’s worth it for them to join. Here are my answers and my Twitter story:

Twitter

Twitter (in the dictionary according to Anny): another medium on the internet that allows people (aka twits, twitterers, tweeps) to communicate with each other using short blurbs of 140 characters or less, known as “tweets”* (singular: “tweet”).

*Tweets are similar to Facebook status updates. However, twits seem to have become increasingly critical of Twitter users who tweet about themselves and their food consumption rather than “hot topics” or cool links.

Do I think it’s worth it for you to join Twitter? Well, that depends. I like to compare Twitter to a telephone. If you’re going to use it on a regular basis and you like communicating with others on it, then it’s a great idea. If you plan on joining simply because you heard it’s the thing to do (*cough* *cough* Sheep! *cough*) and you don’t really like the idea of having all your thoughts out there for the world to criticize, or you don’t plan on using it very often, then joining Twitter is a waste of your time.

Personally, I love Twitter and it loves me right back. <3

My Twitter Story (Alternative title: It’s Two Degrees in Brisbane)

The story begins with a single tweet by @612brisbane about the top condiments Australians like to put on their breakfast toast. 612 ABC Brisbane is a radio station based in Brisbane, Queensland Australia and they do a lot of listener surveys about all sorts of random things. Because ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) is a national publicly funded broadcaster, they can’t mention brand names like Vegemite (which was of course, one of the favourite Australian toast condiments). The tweet described Vegemite as a brown yeast-based spread and it sounded pretty gross to me. I hadn’t discovered Vegemite yet and didn’t know what they were talking about so tweeted back asking what it was. Spencer from the Breakfast show DM’ed me back with the answer. (Note for non-twits: a DM is a “Direct Message” which is only visible to the person you’re messaging)

After the Top 50 candidates for the Best Job in the World were announced, 612 ABC Brisbane was the FIRST media outlet to contact me for an interview. I was impressed. The local Vancouver-based radio and television stations (save CBC) were about 20 minutes behind and they were half a world closer!

Spencer in studio at 612 ABC Brisbane

I kept in contact with Spencer through Twitter, and when I came to Brisbane I asked if I could tour the radio station. Not only did he say yes, but he also invited me down for an interview.

Plain and simple: Spencer is Awesome (or as they say in Australia “Owe-some”)! He knew I was looking for a job so while we were on the air, he asked his listeners to call in if they could offer me any work. The first caller in was Dr. Andrew Laming MP from Cleveland (it’s about an hour South of Central Brisbane) who said he’d like to hire me to do some work as an Events Assistant. How perfect is that? I’ve been working in his office for over a month now and it’s been absolutely fabulous. The people at the office: Matt, Sara, Marty, Louise and of course Andrew are all uber-great and I really couldn’t have asked for a better outcome.

Majella in the control room at 612 ABC Brisbane

But there’s more! A few days later, Spencer and Majella (his Producer) called for me to come in for a follow-up interview. Of course I jumped at the chance! Spencer knew I was also looking for accommodation, so he was going to ask his listeners if they could offer me a place to stay (how nice is that eh?). Before we went on air though, we were chatting in the control room where a girl named Natalie was filling in for someone who was on holiday. When Natalie heard I was looking for a place to stay, she offered me a room! I thought “holy guacamole are Brisbanites ever nice!”

In the end, I didn’t end up staying with Natalie because her home is very far from Cleveland. She’s such a sweetheart though and put out a message to her friends asking if anyone had a spare room. One of her friends happens to be Sarah Moran who was the media guru who travelled the world with Hailey Turner from the Best Job in the World campaign. Sarah happened to also be friends with James Hill from the campaign, who I had met just a couple of weeks before this series of events. Within about the 10 minutes after Natalie put out her message, Sarah responded, we talked on the phone for a couple of minutes (about the same amount of time I had spent with Natalie in the studio) and she said she’d pick me up from the hostel the next morning! I couldn’t believe my luck!

Sarah and Simon at the Powerhouse Theatre

The next day, Sarah picked me up, we dropped off my gear at her place and had tea, went to visit the markets, made a trip to see her sister, watched a comedy show at Powerhouse with her boyfriend, and ate dinner at Sitar’s. She had a spare room at her place for one week and then was going to go to New Zealand for a family ski trip the next week. Knowing that she would only have a spare bed during those two weeks, she phoned around to see if anyone else had a place for me. Her friend Dan happened to have just bought an apartment across the street and was in the area when she phoned. We met up with him, and guess where I’m staying now? LOL I’m renting Dan’s spare room until the end of August.

Now there was a week long gap between Sarah’s return from New Zealand and Dan’s official move-in date where I didn’t have a place to stay. I think I must be one of the luckiest people on earth. My boss (Andrew) had offered to lend me his “apartment” in Mooloolaba on any of the dates in August where there wasn’t already someone staying there. A few of the dates listed were during that week where I would’ve been homeless. So, on the Sunday after Sarah returned, my co-worker Sara let me stay in her spare room. On Monday, Sarah and I left for Mooloolaba and while she had to come back early on Tuesday, I stayed until Thursday morning. Dan’s apartment wouldn’t be ready until Friday afternoon so there was just one night I had to find a bed for: Thursday.

Kelley and me at the Ekka

And the chain of events continues! I would’ve just stayed in the hostel at Mooloolaba for another night, but I had to be back in Brisbane for Friday. Why? Well, Spencer being as fabulous as he is (not only does he do his research for all his interviews — even little ones like me! — but he can edit segments in seconds WHILE carrying on a conversation with you!) has a lot of listeners. A few of those listeners happened to be producers for Mornings with Kerri-Anne (including Kelley Shepherd). Mornings with Kerri-Anne is based in the Australian state of New South Wales, but they were going to be travelling to Queensland for one day (Friday) to film at the Ekka (Brisbane’s annual fair). Because of the interview on Spencer’s show, they invited me to be on Mornings with Kerri-Anne! Very exciting!

So where did I stay on Thursday night? Well, since Sarah and I were going to go to the Ekka together, I crashed on her couch for the night and we left together in the morning. At first she thought that the segment was going to be filmed with Kerri-Anne Kennerley in NSW and me in Brisbane. When she found out that morning that we were going to be meeting Kerri-Anne in person, she just about flipped! LOL She’s a big fan.

So to sum up the story: One tweet turned into a radio interview with the best in the radio biz, that turned into a job, several places to stay, heaps of new friends, and a segment on a huge television show! This is why I love Twitter and Twitter has obviously loved me right back.

A HUGE GIGANTUAN THANK YOU goes out to Spencer Howson for being a twit.

Me and Belinda Riding the Waves at Dreamworld

Belinda and I have been chatting on Twitter and on this blog ever since the Best Job in the World campaign began in January. I’ve been wanting to meet her since then and was hoping we’d meet when I made the trip down South but she has a very sweet and protective fiance who wasn’t too keen on the idea. But really, I’m a 5ft 4″ Asian girl that weighs less than 120 lbs. How much of a threat could I really be? Eventually he gave in and Belinda and I spent a day at Dreamworld where she used to work.

Unfortunately, due to the time of year (school holidays) we weren’t able to go on very many rides and the line-ups were pretty insane. But, the ones we did go on were really good! The Tower of Terror is Belinda’s favourite and it’s up there on my list as well along with Wipeout and The Claw.

The line-up for The Tower of Terror was especially brutal because it only seats 12 people at a time and there were a lot of glitches and delays that day. We waited for over an hour in front of a group of very drunken girls who were lacking basic motor skills (they kept elbowing and falling on us). When we finally got to the ride, there was a glitch and we were stuck in the seats for a while, and then it started raining so the ride was closed down for another 45 minutes. We did end up going back and getting a ride in. It may only be 20 seconds, but it’s quite the thrill.

Tips for Travellers

1. Dreamworld can be very expensive compared to your Playland or other themepark back home. It’s $69 AU for a daypass so unless you really really REALLY want to go, you could probably get a better bang for your buck elsewhere.
2. If you are travelling to Dreamworld by train, look on the back of your ticket. It may have a coupon for an adult pass at children’s price.
3. Buy your pass before you go. You can get your ticket at the Coomera (pronounced “koom-ra”) train station while you’re waiting for the shuttle to the park. If you get your ticket at the entrance, you could be waiting in line for well over a half hour.
4. Check the weather before leaving because if it’s a rainy day, you won’t be able to go on some of the rides like the Tower of Terror (which is definitely worth a go).
5. However, if it’s only slightly cloudy, it might be an ideal day to go because the weather scares most people off and according to staff members, the morning clouds usually go away by the afternoon.
6. Do NOT go to Dreamworld when students are on holiday. Seriously. This could be the worst decision ever and you could be waiting all day just to ride two rides. I’m not joking.
7. Start with the Giant Drop. For those of you who know Playland, it’s like the Hellevator but nearly twice as high. Then you can see the whole park and scout where you want to go next while getting a bit of a thrill. It’s scarier than the Hellevator.
8. Must dos: The Giant Drop, The Claw, Wipeout (which takes 40 people at a time so wait times are short), Tower of Terror,  Mick Doohan’s Motocoaster, Wildlife Exhibit, Log Ride (if you don’t mind getting incredibly soaked).
9. If you want to get an extra splash on the Log Ride or Thunder River Rapids Ride, go after 10:30am because that’s when the water gets pumped for the day. If you go before then, you won’t get as wet.
10. Bring a packed lunch. Everyone else does. Like all themeparks, the food is both overpriced and not so good.
11. If you are over 5ft 10″, you may have trouble getting on a lot of the rides (ex. Mick Doohan’s Motocoaster and The Claw). Lineups can be very long and it sucks if you get all the way to the ride only to find out you can’t go on it. There are tester seats for most of the rides just outside the line-up areas. If you’re unsure about whether you can ride, try the tester seats first.

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Highlights of Dreamworld

1. Getting to know Belinda in person!
2. The MASSIVE crocodiles! I wish we had been able to catch the crocodile show because they feed them then, but we were still in line at The Tower of Terror.
3. Seeing kangaroos having what looked like a three-way.
4. Seeing the “fugly kangaroo”. I feel so bad for the guy. He’s really unattractive…
5. That first thrill of being on a new ride and not knowing what to expect.

Greg Reynen and Me

Marcella, Erik and I got to spend some quality time in Vancouver and we were able to chat with Mitch and Linda on Skype video a few months ago too. This week I was able to meet two more of the Top 16 candidates for the Best Job in the World (James and Greg), as well as everyone from Tourism Queensland!

James knew I’d be arriving in Brisbane last week so he sent me his number via Twitter. I had a really hard time getting a hold of him though because the pay phone at the hostel takes 50 cents for each connection plus another 50 cents for each 30 seconds. I didn’t know this and kept getting disconnected immediately after connecting and when I finally figured out why, I had run out of 50 cent coins.*

Because I didn’t have a cell phone for a few days and Greg was leaving Brisbane the next day after I arrived, James and Greg surprised me at the hostel the night I arrived while I was getting ready for bed. Me with messy hair, no make-up and in my pjs wasn’t exactly the first impression I wanted to give. LOL We went for dinner at a well-known Vietnamese restaurant near Brisbane’s Chinatown and knocked back a few beers. By the way, restaurants in Australia are commonly “B.Y.O.”, as in you can bring your own alchohol to drink there. Weird eh?

Me and James Hill Drinking Beer

It was really great to meet James and Greg in person! Both guys are really fun and Greg and I were thinking about taking a trip to New Zealand together when he got back from a *Top Secret* Tourism Queensland trip, but I don’t think I can do it until I save up a bit of cash in Oz. I’m hoping he’ll be up for the trip closer to December when the weather gets warmer. *hint hint nudge nudge Greg!*

I’m not sure if I’m allowed to say anything about the *Top Secret* Tourism Queensland trip, but I’m sure you can figure it out for yourselves. James, Greg, Magali, Mirjam, and George are all travelling around Queensland right now having a blast and James has a brand new tan (which by the way, looks really good)!

Me with Chris Chambers at Tourism Queensland’s Headquarters

On Thursday, I was able to take a tour of the Tourism Queensland office with Chris Chambers. Being able to meet everyone behind the Best Job in the World campaign (especially Anthony Hays, Chris Chambers, Shana Pereira, Nicole McNaughton, Amy Newman and the Marketing Team) was like getting to meet your all time favourite hockey players. I don’t know if they could tell, but I was practically gushing at being able to meet the brains behind it all in person!

The Tourism Queensland building has a large neon Tourism Queensland logo on the top and is very easy to find at night (you pass it when your on transit near Roma Street Station). The actual Tourism Queensland team takes up two floors of the building and it looks like your average office building except there are lots of colourful decorations hanging from the ceiling from celebrating the Fourth of July (Shana is from the LA office), and in the aviation department (lots of little planes everywhere). It’s a very open and fun environment where everyone is uber-nice and (for the most part ) very organized. I certainly wouldn’t mind working there!

*Tip for Travellers to Australia:

Each call you make (whether it’s via a cell or pay phone doesn’t matter) has a connection fee (usually between $0.30-$0.50) as well as a per minute or per 30 second charge (it ranges according to your plan / pay phone). It’s much cheaper to either buy a phone card, or a pre-paid cell phone plan than to dial direct from a pay phone.

Posing beside a plane after skydiving for the Best Job in the World

After I found out that I didn’t make it into the Top 16 for the Best Job in the World, I had planned to update the look of my website because the theme you see here and on my Twitter icon was created specifically for my BJITW campaign. This is why there is a picture of a GBR island in my Twitter icon thought bubble, and bubbles along the side of this website that resemble the Islands of the Great Barrier Reef logo. It didn’t seem right to have a picture of me dreaming about Australia on here or Twitter if I wasn’t going to be going.

Something else you may or may not have noticed about my campaign was my haircut about a week after the Top 50 candidates were announced. I had cut a couple of inches off just to make myself look the same as in my application video. Nobody noticed, but I guess that was the point right? Anyways, I digress.

As you can see, I didn’t end up changing the look of my website after all. Why? Because I decided that not being in the Top 16 wouldn’t stop me from seeing Queensland! Last Thursday I applied (and got) my Working Holiday Visa and round-trip tickets to Brisbane!!

It’s crazy how fast my Working Holiday Visa application was processed. I assume that the computer generates an automatic approval so long as your application answers and passport aren’t flagged. My Visa was processed in a matter of minutes and within three hours I had all the paperwork to head down under: Visa, flight tickets and travel / medical insurance.  VOILA!

I’ll be leaving on July 2nd (the day after Canada Day) and returning on December 23rd, just in time for Christmas. <3

Common Question: Do I have plans for when I get down there? None whatsoever.

Have I got kangaroos jumping around in the attic? Quite possibly, but it should be fun just the same!

PS Thanks @whitsundays for the crash course in Aussie slang!

My cell phone bill for this month is going to hurt.

I just got off the phone with Dean Horvath from Mason Horvath, the company that created the “next best job” campaign. It sounds like he’s gotten a lot of flak about this campaign.

I told him that there would be no conflict of interest in doing an interview with me since I have publicly announced that I will not be a participant in the “next best job” campaign, and asked him for his schedule of availability. Understandably, he has to first consult his PR firm, Curve Communications.

I made sure to double check with him that I was allowed to write a blog post about our conversation. According to Dean, the fine print and legal statements in his e-mail and attachments were included by Mason Horvath’s lawyer and are in the process of being changed / eliminated.

I asked him the question that was bothering me most: Why was the “next best job” campaign created?

It didn’t make sense for Mason Horvath to create the “next best job” campaign. They are after all a luxury travel company that prides itself on never advertising, and accommodating only the incredibly wealthy — not exactly the same target market as the adventurous bunch of applicants for the Best Job in the World.

The answer: Mason Horvath does not want to be affiliated with the “next best job” campaign. The purpose of this campaign was to create a separate website where Mason Horvath would post videos about travel experiences and generate advertising revenues from having people visit the website.

I also asked him what he was expecting from the successful applicant and his / her partner, and told him that the requirements set out in his e-mail attachments are unreasonable.

The answer: The videos Dean is expecting from the successful applicant would be nowhere near the quality of the videos created by the Top 50 candidates for the Best Job in the World. They would be more like 30 seconds of single shot footage. Why then would people be interested in watching them? Well, I’m not sure about that one but Dean is hoping that they will. Dean says that the Terms & Conditions, including the “Services” required of the successful applicant and partner are being changed.

Tourism Queensland published a news release today about the “next best job” campaign which reads:

Tourism Queensland has been made aware of another campaign being run named ‘The Next Best Job’.  Some applicants for our Best Job in the World — Island Caretaker position have been approached by this company.  Tourism Queensland would like to confirm that we have no association with this campaign or company and encourage anyone interested in applying to read all terms and conditions and fine print.

I told Dean about this release and how it doesn’t sound like Tourism Queensland thinks it’s a good idea for any Top 50 Best Job in the World candidate to apply for the “next best job.” He had mentioned in his e-mail that Tourism Queensland would “be rewarded” by the “next best job” campaign. I wanted to know if he had actually been in contact with Tourism Queensland about this campaign.

The answer: Dean sent an e-mail to Tourism Queensland telling them that Mason Horvath would be launching the “next best job” campaign before the press release came out on Monday.

In Summary

After reading the comments and blog posts about the “next best job,” Dean admits that “everyone is right” and there are a lot of things that need to be changed about the “next best job.” The requirements of the position will be reduced, the fine print is in the process of being changed / eliminated, and he does not expect great quality videos from the successful applicant. The purpose of this campaign is to generate advertising revenues from a separate website that would feature travel videos and Mason Horvath does not want to be associated with this website.

It sounds like the “next best job” is going to get a lot better and I’m looking forward to seeing what changes will be made. Stay tuned for my future in-person interview with Dean Horvath!

The NEXT Best Job in the World

Hi Anny,

I’ve been following the Island Reef Job contest from the start and I’ve been amazed with the quality of all of the shortlist contests’ video submissions. Unfortunately, only one person can get the best job in the world, so here’s what I want to do: I want to give you a second chance.

Who am I? My name’s Dean Horvath and I own Mason Horvath, a luxury travel agency here in Vancouver. I want to offer you a chance at another job, The Next Best Job in the World!

As Mason Horvath’s Elite Travel Correspondent, you’ll travel the world for six months, searching out the most unique and mind-blowing experiences normally reserved for the rich and famous. Experiences like a private candlelight dinner on the Great Wall of China, racing a Ferrari through the winding back roads of Tuscany, and spending the afternoon picnicking in the Moroccan desert.

Why are we doing this? It’s simple. Mason Horvath has always provided our clients with the most unique and exclusive experiences the world has to offer and now we want to share them with the world.

What are the specifics? First thing: you’re going to be traveling around the world living in the most luxurious hotels and resorts imaginable, taking part in the most unique and exclusive experiences money can buy. Then, you’re going to share this with the world through the website thenextbestjob.com. You’ll get to experience well over half a million dollars worth of travel and we’ll pay you USD $50,000 to do it!

Also, you’ll need to find someone to come with you as well. All of this luxury is too much for one person to manage, so you’ll need someone to help out.

How do you enter? Simple. I am inviting all of the shortlisted candidates from the Island Reef Job to submit a 60 second video to Mason Horvath describing the most unique and out-of-this-world experience in your own home town.

Feel free to visit the contest website at www.thenextbestjob.com and our corporate website at www.masonhorvath.com for more information.

So, are you interested? If so, simply send me an email at [xxx] and I will forward you the specific rules and regulations.

I look forward to hearing from you!

Sincerely,
Dean Horvath

—
Website: www.masonhorvath.com

So what do you think? Obviously this campaign won’t be nearly as successful as the original, but what do you think about “the NEXT Best Job..” idea? Many companies have tried to replicate the Best Job in the World campaign these past few weeks or tried to latch onto the existing campaign by offering free products to the successful applicant (*cough cough* Fosters *cough*). But, this is the first campaign I’ve heard of that’s only open to Top 50 applicants.

If you didn’t make the Top 50 shortlist, you can enter the random draw to be the 5th “wild card”-type person to be flown in directly to the interview stage by clicking HERE. You do not need to create a video to be eligible for this fifth position. The remaining four candidates will be chosen from the Top 50 Best Job in the World applicants that apply.

Do you think the Top 50 candidates will apply? Should they apply? Why or why not?

And another question I had: Did Julia from Russia get an e-mail too?

Me and Marcella at the end of the night

Last night, after the reveal of the Top 16 candidates for the Best Job in the World, I headed over to Marcella’s office party to celebrate. Sure, we might not have gotten into the Top 16, but we had a good run! Like Linda Hoang from Alberta and Steven Rogers in Texas, I too believe that “everything happens for a reason.” I also like to think that in the end, things always work out for the best.

On my way to the party, I got a call from Steven in Texas (which by the way I thought was super cool! I’ve never gotten a phone call from Texas before). We didn’t talk too long though since neither of us knew what the long distance charges were — just long enough to congratulate each other and share a few bits of “insider information.”

Marcella had recently just redesigned Biro Creative’s new office in Gastown, Vancouver, and the place looks great! This was just one of the reasons we were celebrating last night. I got to meet some of her friends who are all very artistic, chill, and really friendly! Being around such supportive, positive and wordly people was exactly what I needed.

Towards the end of the night, Marcella and I figured Erik would be finished his interviews for the day and have time to receive some loud congratulatory messages from us. But alas, his phone was off. He was probably way too tired anyways and needed to get some beauty rest for his early Canada AM interview today. Congratulations Erik!

After cleaning up and bagging at least 50 bottles of wine and beer, the Moser clan and I had a late night dinner at La Casita in Gastown. Mama and Papa Moser are very well travelled and have many interesting stories to share about their experiences. They had driven five hours just to be there for Marcella’s party, which they had also expected would be a ‘Congrats for Making Top 16′ party. I’m pretty sure everyone was expecting it to be a Top 16 congraulatory party. I know I was!

Marcella and I both received a phone call that night from a girl in Human Resources at Tourism Queensland. She reeaaally didn’t wanted to talk to me. I was confused at how obviously she wanted to hang up the phone because I was super happy at the time and kept thanking her and asking her to pass on Thanks to everyone at Tourism Queensland for the opportunity. People don’t normally want to hang up on you when you’re thanking them…

Later on I found out from a fellow candidate that the poor girl is an intern at the office. Isn’t that awful?? They made this poor intern phone people around the world to deliver bad news. It’s no wonder she didn’t want to talk to me. She had phoned several people already that were less than happy about the Top 16 reveal and probably just wanted to get it all over and done with.

Well, it’s over and done with (if you’re reading this poor intern girl, I hope the rest of your day was better)! Here are some pictures of the Moser clan and myself celebrating having come this far:

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