ON MISS TOURISM QUEEN INTERNATIONAL 2008
How did you become the U.S. representative to this pageant and how did you prepare for it
I got a call from my director and he asked me to represent the U.S. in the pageant.
This is my fourth international pageant (three have been under his direction) and every other experience was incredible.
I attribute much of my traveling from his faith in me.
Did you have any idea what you were getting into when you joined this pageant?
Obviously not. Since my return, I have had numerous people send me emails from around
the world stating their personal experience with Miss TQI and thanking me for exposing the truth.
What do you say to your critics who claim that the only reason you stirred controversy is to attract attention to yourself?
I am a catalyst for change, not a fame whore. Not everyone living in Los Angeles wants to be
famous.
I'd like to share some facts with you. I have been to China before and I made the choice to go back after I had such a pleasant
experience at Miss International held partially in China. I left my full-time college course schedule IN THE MIDDLE OF MID-TERMS
to go to China because I saw my participation in Miss TQI as a once in a lifetime opportunity. I am still not caught up on all
of my assignments.
I also postponed my new job working full-time as the manager of a salon and I have a
ton of work to do now. I spent four months preparing for the pageant, practicing my walk with a coach, finding time to go to the gym,
finding the means to buy my pageant wardrobe on a very limited student budget and then driving all over California to pick up these
items, and then putting my life on hold to go to Miss TQI.
It just made no sense for me to go home since I feel I came prepared to do my best at the pageant.
How sad it is for people to say that I just wanted some media coverage. If I really wanted media coverage, I would have just
carried around my "Free Tibet" sign. That could have done it!
Describe a typical day in Miss Tourism Queen International 2008.
NON-COMPETITION DAYS
Wake up call 6:30 AM (we would get up at 5:30 or 6 to have an hour to prepare for the day)
Breakfast - 7AM
Leave the hotel at 7:30 AM and drive to first event
First event 9AM to 11AM
Possible second event - 11 AM to 12 PM
Lunch (a/k/a publicity tour) - 12 to 1 PM
Third event - 1 PM to 3 PM
Drive back to the hotel to prepare for dinner - 3 PM to 4:30 PM
Arrive at hotel to prepare for dinner event - 4:30 PM to 5:30 PM
Dinner Event - 6 PM to 9 PM
Drive back to hotel - 9 PM to 10 PM
Pack luggage and take it downstairs (we changed hotels 4 times) - 10 PM to 11 PM
Personal time to email, call, and prep for the next day - 11 PM to 2 AM
COMPETITION DAYS
Wake up call 6:30 AM (we would get up at 5:30 or 6 to have an hour to prepare for the day, packing and prepping for competition)
Breakfast - 7 AM
Leave the hotel at 7:30 AM and drive to first event
First event - 9 AM to 11 AM
Possible second event - 11 AM to 12 PM
Lunch (aka publicity tour) - 12 PM to 1 PM
Rehearsals - 1 PM to 6 PM
Prep for competition - 6 PM to 7 PM
Competition - 7 PM to 10 PM
Drive back to hotel - 10 PM to 10:30 PM
Pack luggage and take it downstairs (we changed hotels 4 times) - 10:30 PM to 11 PM
Personal time to email, call, and prep for the next day - 11 PM to 2 AM
Throw in the elements with sleep/food/cold situation and it was quite the experience!
And as a catalyst for change, have there been any changes?
Within 24 hours since my blog went global, there had been some major
changes. The girls were given continental meals with plenty of veggie options. Also, the girls had a boxed dinner before
the Miss Charm show and I was told that they were offered vegetarian meals. They had the opportunity to sleep for
one extra hour and were given one afternoon off. The girls were finally taken to a supermarket to do some personal
shopping. I am so glad that these changes started to take effect. I no longer had the luxury of enjoying them but the rest
of the contestants enjoyed them. For me, this was a positive compromise.
How did the contestants feel about you withdrawing from the pageant?
Some of the girls would sneak in my room because the pageant isolated me from the rest of the girls.
In fact, when we arrived to the last hotel, I was put in a room with Miss South Africa (who was also going home) as to not infect
the other contestants. Our room was positioned right next to Jerome Too.
I actually wrote notes on scrap paper to 10 girls that I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to which we delivered by one
of the girls who snuck in my room to see how I was doing. Others would write me emails from their room to mine to say hello
and ask how I was doing. It was not in their best interest for the organizer to see them communicating with me for competition purposes.
I got a few emails from my friends as the pageant that said, “Congratulations….you escaped!”
Since you came back home from China, have you received any updates about the pageant? Have you kept in touch with the contestants?
I am still in contact with about 10 girls. I am actually going to have lunch with Miss
Liberia today! We have discussed very little about the competition since the girls have left the pageant. I want to maintain
our friendship on the grounds that we enjoyed each other’s company. If I never hear another word about Miss TQI,
that would be ok with me!
After your unfortunate experience in MTQI, has it changed your opinion about pageants in general? Would you still encourage
young women to enter pageants?
I am still a strong supporter of pageants, although I have not made any decision to vie for
another title. Pageants have positively affected everything in my life, from the multiple friendships
I have now to the places I have visited all over the world, to the ability to have confidence in my personal choices.
ON MISS INTERNATIONAL 2004
You placed second in the Miss International 2004 pageant, which took place in China. How would you compare your experience in that pageant
with the one that you have experienced in Miss Tourism Queen International 2008?
I absolutely adored my time at Miss International. We spent three weeks in Japan and
one week in China and I have the fondest memories of visiting the Shinto Temple in Kamakura and having a lovely feast at
the Great Wall of China. I also met my dear friend at the pageant (Laura Shields, Miss UK Int. 2004) and now I have the
pleasure of seeing her a few times a week since we both live in Los Angeles. There is just no comparing the two competitions
because the very mention of Miss International compared to Miss Tourism Queen International is slanderous. One focuses on quality,
the other focuses on quantity.
Did you get along with the organizers of this pageant? Were there any problems with the organizers that were
tantamount to the problems that you experienced with the MTQI organizers?
Miss International was extremely organized and took excellent care of the contestants.
Being the 1st Runner-Up was such an honor considering the long U.S. history of the pageant when it was held in Long Beach,
California. My experience at Miss International was divine.
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On vegetarianism, animal rights, politics & society
APRIL 2008
PHOTO CREDITS: Amy Lynne Holbrook
