SURVIVOR CHINA MI-5

Sue says: My inspiration this week is the season premiere of Survivor: China.

1. Usually someone will emerge as a leader in each tribe, but last night, one tribe sort of thrust leadership upon someone. He accepted the role, but said it made him a little uncomfortable. Do you feel you are a natural leader or is it something you had to learn? Or, on the flip side, something you were neither born with or learned?

I think I tend to be a natural leader, although I don't mind letting someone else lead, provided they are actually leading. If I see a leader not "doing their job", I want to "take over" and "make sure it's done right." Sometimes, though, I really love to be under the leadership of a strong leader, just so I can give my own mind a break.

2. The contestants had trouble sleeping because they got soaking wet while trying to construct shelter. What is the longest you have gone without a significant amount of sleep & why?

I don't know that I've ever gone without a significant amount of sleep. Probably the closest to that would be on a trip to VA. I'm either driving, or making sure that Dwane doesn't fall asleep while he's driving. If we drive during the night, that means I probably woke up at 6:00 AM, we left at 5:00 PM, drove 14 hours, arrived in VA around 7:00 AM, and then went to bed at 9:00 PM. What does that work out to??? Maybe 38 hours?

3. When the contestants first arrived on the island, they had no shelter or fire & only the clothes on their back. They were given one pot of rice, but no other supplies. So what's the most important thing to make first--shelter or fire?

I would say fire. I would need it to make food (the rice) and also to sanitize the water for drinking. Since it tended to be pouring most of time in China, though, it would probably make sense to make shelter first. Pretty hard to make fire in the rain.

4. One of the first things the contestants had to do was participate in a Buddhist ceremony in a temple, with several idols lining the walls. The host made a point of saying that he realized the group was made up of people who had a variety of beliefs, so this ceremony was not worship, simply a way for the Chinese to say "welcome". One of the women said she was not "religious", but she has a personal relationship with Jesus & that when she bows it will be only to Him.
Do you think she made the right decision? What would you do?

I think she made the right decision. I was thinking that I would've done the same thing that she did. Even if you said in your heart that you were not worshipping, everyone around you would think you were worshipping. In particular, I noted the Chinese guy who kept getting after the waitress for NY for not "folding" her hands correctly. It seemed to me that the Chinese expected "proper" worship of their false god.

5. The prize is a million dollars. Is it worth being separated from family & friends, risking your health & living very primitively for 39 days?

Not for me. Especially since I know that I could NEVER win something like that. I'm a definite homebody.