The former Hollandale farm kid who now is a 31-year-old man who teaches physical education in Asia has made it to the next round in a contest called The Best Job in the World.

For four years, Greg Reynen has taught at a middle school offering American education in Singapore, a city-state at the tip of the Malay Peninsula.

Reynen initially made the final 50 out of a staggering field of 34,684 applicants. He is now in the final 16. He has been a darling of the Singapore media.

“It has been pretty crazy with media interviews here,” he told the Albert Lea Tribune via e-mail, “and I had to follow through  with a promise. I inadvertently said that if I made the final cut I’d shave my head, paint the Singapore flag on it, and run down Orchard Road (the main shopping drag) in downtown Singapore — with fins, snorkel and mask on. They called me out on it so after hearing the news Friday morning (April 3), I finished teaching for the day and headed downtown to shave off a year’s worth of hair. But I left a wicked Mohawk!”

The job is caretaker of the islands of the Great Barrier Reef. It is a six-month position with flexible hours, living on Hamilton Island. A key responsibility is to explore the islands and report on the adventures to Tourism Queensland headquarters in Brisbane via blogs, photos, video and interviews.

Other duties are feeding fish, cleaning a pool and collecting mail. The pay is 150,000 Australian dollars for the six-month contract, starting July 1.

Tourism Queensland selected 15 and online voters picked a wildcard, Clare Wang of Taiwan.

Reynen leaves May 1 for Hamilton Island to vie with the other 15 in interviews with Tourism Queensland officials. There are 10 men and six women.

Here is a post Reynen made on his blog on April 6:

“Getting that call on Friday morning was just about as sweet as it gets, ladies and gentlemen. Of course, I called my mom and then the rest of my family. Much to my chagrin, one of my sisters hung up on me twice! Her excuse, ‘I thought you were a telemarketer.’”

Here is one from April 13:

“Hey guys, apparently I’m the underdog at the bookies taking bets on the winner of The Best Job in the World. First I laughed, then I was a little disheartened, then I remembered the bookies aren’t in charge. I believe if God wants me there, He will place me there, regardless of what the bookies say. Being the underdog would just make His work that much more obvious. I didn’t do this on my own!”

The winner of The Best Job in the World is to be announced May 6.

Sites about Greg

www.islandreefjob.com/#/Greg

www.greginparadise.blogspot.com

www.todayonline.com/pdflive/0404NRW008.pdf

www.razor.tv/site/servlet/segment/main/news/25884.html