Surviving the Cook Islands Reunion: Breaking Stereotypes

What’s the first thing Yul did when he got home? He got a Costco membership and went crazy buying food. Heh.

Next up, Ozzy the challenge god. Probst says those working on the show referred to him as “born to play.” Where did he come up with all those skills? Ozzy says he’s had a very eclectic background. He loves books and one of the first books he read was Robinson Crusoe. He fell in love with nature. He started swimming when he lived in San Antonio, Texas, where he did it every day. He felt more comfortable in the water than on land. So he knew how to spearfish, among other things.

What was the best part for him? “The whole damn thing,” including meeting all of them and knowing that if he were ever stranded on an island, everything he did as a kid, he could use. Did he miss it when he left? He says he fell into deep depression when he got back. Being out there was an amazing experience. Just a few thousand years ago, everybody was doing the Survivor thing for real.

Since he touched on his dad in final Tribal Council, has he been in touch with him? He says no, but his “father” is here – that is, the man he considers his father, who raised him.

Moving to Jonathan, who Probst says was memorable for other reasons. Probst asks if he was a villain or a good player. He says he wasn’t a villain, but he was antagonistic to other people and rubbed them the wrong way. But it was a game – you don’t have a villain in Monopoly. True, but Jonathan, you were a villain. Jonathan says he was playing to win – they all were, he was just more overt about it.

What was his family’s reaction? He warned them that he was going to be called “some fantastic names,” like cancer and rat and weasel. He says it sucked but it was in the context of the game and he knows the people wouldn’t do that elsewhere. He doesn’t hold it against them.

Did it change him besides losing weight? Yes, he feels much more appreciative of his life and family. And he’s very glad he did it, for that reason.

Switching subjects, was seeing that bottle talking about the double Tribal Council Jenny’s worst nightmare? Yup. She says she regrets not saying anything at Tribal Council to plead her case and convince them she would be the better choice. She wouldn’t have flipped.

Moving to Cao Boi, Probst asks where he came from. Cao Boi says all his life he has bucked trends and been told he’s been doing things wrong. He’s been living it his way and this is the culmination of his life experiences. Do people tend to not get him? He says they think he doesn’t understand English, and if he doesn’t respond right away, people talk to him louder. Heh.

In Cao Boi’s philosophy, Probst says Cao Boi doesn’t seem to think younger people are patient enough. Cao Boi says things are quicker these days. Kids look at it and process information more quickly, which creates impatience.

Another thing Probst says Cao Boi will be remembered for is his Asian jokes where people in the tent were getting offended. Probst says he always felt Cao Boi was trying to tell them not to take things so seriously. But does Yul think it was a good idea, ultimately? Yul says the first thing he thought was that he’d made a huge mistake in participating. But it didn’t play up stereotypes, instead it showed that it’s not race that determines who your friends are – they ended up with a multicultural coalition that made it to the end. The fact that they bonded so well was based on their personalities, not their ethnic backgrounds. So he’s hoping that in some small way, they might have shown that the color of your skin doesn’t determine who you are, but what’s inside does.

Cao Boi tries to add his two cents but it stopped by Probst, who is asking Nate a question. Apparently, Nate did an interview in which he said something about Rebecca and Stephannie getting into a fight with him because he didn’t represent their ethnic group. Nate says they were originally all grouped by race and he loved his Hiki tribe. But he was called a race traitor because some people felt he should have stayed with his racial background regardless. But he was playing a game where that didn’t matter and you have to do what’s best. So he had to turn on girls he loved and his racial background.

Stephannie is asked what that’s about. She says she was comfortable in the game and trusted Nate. Did she trust him because of their shared race? She says absolutely. Rebecca? She says she trusted him more so because of who he is rather than because of his race. They were close, so she expected him to look out for him.

Probst asks Brad to wrap up the issue – does he think there is pressure to represent your group in situations like this? He says yes, especially representing Asians, where men are frequently portrayed as nerdy guys. He thinks he and Yul did a fantastic job of breaking that mold.