For one 20-year-old model, a month in China proved the trip of a lifetime
MODELLING is a strange industry. Once you’re in, it’s hard to get out. The image of being perfect is something all women look for; some have what it takes and some don’t. But modelling isn’t all about doing fashion shows and getting your picture taken. Unbelievable opportunities can come from being beautiful and tall, as 20-year-old Andia Petrou found out. She was picked by a model agency to represent Cyprus at the Miss Tourism Queen International beauty pageant in China. After a month there Andia was ready to talk about the trip that changed her life.
Sitting at Starbucks flipping through the unbelievable mess that is my note pad, the young model’s appearance could not go unnoticed. Heads turn as Andia walks towards me in the sophisticated, breathtaking manner that models do. Her brown hair is effortlessly straight and the femme fatale look is completed with a tight pair of jeans and a white top. She manages to look the part but has stayed away from the character usually required for this role. She is witty, almost painfully polite and adorable; far from the stereotypical idea of a model that most people have.
Grabbing a caramel frappuchino, Andia enthusiastically began to talk about the month she spent in China. “Although the pageant was a great opportunity, I can’t compare it to the experience of seeing China. It is a completely different world.” Although she enjoyed every minute of her trip to China, she was initially hesitant to take the opportunity. “I wasn’t ready to leave everything and skip off to a foreign country, which is so far away,” she explained, “but thankfully my parents talked me into going and I haven’t regretted it.”
Andia left for China on June 7 after only one week of preparation. “I had to find a dress and get physically and mentally ready for the trip in such a short time,” she explained. The task of finding a dress was placed upon Andia as she is “from Cyprus and people don’t care about beauty contests enough to give you free stuff”. So, with her hairdryer, make-up kit and bags of confidence Andia was off. On arriving in China she was amazed by the way they were treated. “We were treated like queens,” she said, “everything was very organised and the people were so friendly I couldn’t believe it.” This particular beauty pageant is thought of very highly in China and journalists revelled at the sight of the contestants. “Wherever we went they were right there,” said Andia, “it was crazy.”
Treated like queens would probably be the key phrase here as Andia went on to describe the feeling of staying on the 36th floor of a skyscraper. “The rooms were huge and two girls shared one room, which was more then enough. We had a ridiculously big plasma TV including home cinema and channels with movies galore. But the best bit was the Jacuzzi and the fact that there was a glass between the TV and the Jacuzzi, so we could watch while relaxing in the bath. It was heaven, perfect!”
Even though the girls were honoured guests and manicures were very important, they were still hurried around China’s cities and finest attractions. Peking, Hunan and Tzeng Ndou, Zhou Zhouang and Hang Ntzou were on the list. But it wasn’t just about looking at beautiful statues and monks kung fuing their way through temples; the girls had to pay attention, as this was actually their homework. “They didn’t tell us at the time but we were asked during the competition different questions about what we had seen and what we liked,” Andia said.
The girls were on a schedule. “We had to wake up very early in the morning, have breakfast, go sight seeing, have lunch and then go sight seeing again,” Andia explained, “we weren’t left alone for a minute and every night we had formal dinners with high positioned people, some of whom were judges during the competition but of course we didn’t know who was who.” Being on a continuous test, was a bit too much for Andia and the other girls especially after having a serious problem with the food. “I can say that that was the only problem I had over there,” Andia said after a pensive swig of coffee, “the food was disgusting. I have never eaten cockroaches and as much as I loved China, I wouldn’t eat their food. There were just too many insects and legs involved.”
Andia didn’t win the Miss Tourism Queen International but “did make it to the final 15”, which meant overtaking at least 60 other girls. “I wasn’t disappointed because I knew Cyprus didn’t have a chance among all those other countries and there were a lot of girls who were absolutely stunning.” So, what of the future? “Well, I have been offered a project in Korea but I don’t think I’m ready for that,” she said. But we might catch her on next year’s beauty contest in Cyprus. Good luck!
