Update:
Jaeger Mah will be stranded for 80 days and 80 nights at the Vancouver International Airport starting Aug. 17.
But he's no cranky traveller. Mah, 29, was announced Monday as the winner of the Live@YVR contest, which was looking for someone to document what happens behind the scenes at the airport.
"I just got my security pass so I can get into all the secret places in the airport," Mah told The Vancouver Sun on Monday afternoon. "It feels like I won the lottery."
Port-Alberni-raised Mah campaigned tirelessly for two weeks, with help and support from his friends and family, to get votes for his video entry.
He claimed ultimate victory with 4,128 votes - more than double that received by the first runner-up. He was among five finalists selected from 96 original entries.
His prize includes an 80-night stay at the Fairmont Vancouver Airport Hotel, three meals a day at the airport, and near-unlimited access to the airport.
That's close to 12 weeks of fully-paid-for confinement at North America's best airport and best airport hotel, as judged by Skytrax's World Airport Awards 2011.
"I love the thrill of different challenges and something like this is perfect," Mah said. "I'll basically be living in a new world, and I have this goal, which is to interview people, share their stories and showcase the hearts behind YVR."
Mah said his first investigation will be to find out what happens to confiscated items.
"My grandpa's pocket knife that he passed on to me was confiscated at an airport a long time ago," he said.
"I've always wondered what happened to it. Did it get recycled? Melted? Trashed?"
And those are exactly the kind of insights the airport authority hopes to reveal with this 80thanniversary project.
"It came from the desire to quench the public's curiosity and to let people know what happens at the international airport," said airport spokeswoman Rebecca Catley.
Catley said members of the public are encouraged to send their own questions about the airport to Mah via Facebook (
Live@YVR | Facebook) or Twitter (
live@YVR (liveatyvr) on Twitter).
Mah hasn't started blogging and filming for the project yet (
Live@YVR), but he's already thinking of how sad it will be when it ends.
"I take a lot of pride in meeting new people and making new friendships," he said. "There may be lasting friendships created, and when I'm done the job, I'll be back home in the apartment thinking, 'I wish I was still at Fairmont.'"
slaw@vancouversun.com
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Stranded at Vancouver Airport, and happy