'Amazing Race's' Cindy Tells Romantic Thing She Learned About Ernie

Racing motorboats, flagging taxis, deciphering clues--all the while trying to beat  competing teams--is bound to tell you a lot about your betrothed.

Ernie Halvorsen and Cindy Chiang, who were revealed Sunday as the winners of the CBS TV show "The Amazing Race," did learn something about each other. The alum of in Niles and his fiancee talked with Patch Tuesday about the whole "Amazing" experience.

Both said they loved watching the airings of the show's episodes--which they were seeing for the first time--with family and friends at a Chicago bar.

Earlier:

"It was really exciting because we knew the outcome," Halvorsen said. "We just liked to look around the room and see people's expressions." The show's rules prohibited them from saying who had won.

"It was an exciting time. Incredible."

On Sunday night when the show's finale finally revealed the duo as the winners, Halvorsen said his Twitter account, Facebook page and the text messages on his phone just blew up.

Even stars get laid off these days

The accolades may help cushion a difficult situation. Halvorsen's west suburban employer, which is in the printing industry, has placed him on furlough without pay.

At the beginning of the new year, the company will reassess its situation and see if they have a need for him, Halvorsen said.

"We're fortunate to be in this situation," Chiang reflected, referring to the fact the win came with $1 million in prize money.

However, the two have an idea to start a non-profit enterprise.

Helping street kids get into classrooms

During the "Race" experience, the two noticed a lot of kids on the street during school hours in the foreign countries.

Because parents must pay to send children to school in many of the countries, and some parents can't afford the tuition, they keep kids home or put them to work, Chiang said. Yet the tuition is often cheap by American standards--for example, $25 a year in Cambodia.

"We want to provide aid and scholarships for them," Chiang said.

To fund them, the couple would turn to another interest they have--nutrition. Their idea is to create healthy eating programs for U.S. children to combat childhood obesity.

"The revenues from the U.S. nutrition programs would fund the overseas programs," Chiang explained.

Taking on a long shot

She's working with one of her former professors, who has started a social business incubator called the Impact Engine, to develop the idea.

While saving children from a life of poverty may seem like a daunting task, Halvorsen reflected that it's good to set high goals, even if they seem too ambitious.

"We wouldn't have entered the 'Race" unless we were willing to try something that was almost out of reach," he noted.

And the "Race" was a grueling experience of constant adrenaline, they said, with the occasional pit stops being the only break from the go-go-go attitude.

"It's very high-paced, and very intense. You don't get to eat a whole lot. It was sleep deprivation and starvation," Halvorsen said, laughing.

What surprised them

Throughout the four weeks or so this summer they were away filming "The Amazing Race," Halvorsen and Chiang, who plan to marry in March, said they learned new things about each other.

"It was always surprising how open Cindy was with the other teams, giving them help and support, to the point where I was a little nervous," Halvorsen said. "But I was pretty surprised with her openness."

For her part, Chiang said, "I learned how caring and giving Ernie is. I had some high times and some low times--during the high times, Ernie celebrated with me, and during the low times, he picked me up."

OK, readers, are you ready for the romantic part?

"Now I understand that he'll be there with me for the highs and lows throughout life," she added.

Awww.

Friends, loyalty, the future

Halvorsen also had kind words for his Niles alma mater.

"Notre Dame was one of the better experiences in my life," he said. "It's a brotherhood. It's hard to explain the connection you have to your fellow Dons. There's always a loyalty there."

He still sees his Notre Dame friends regularly, though he missed a lot of their softball season over the summer while off filming "The Amazing Race."

Now that they've won, the couple says their next step is to network and develop their mission to help impoverished kids overseas get an education. 

They'll likely be plowing a lot of their winnings into the project.

"The funds will go to the business," Chiang said. "And we'll save a little so we have a nest egg when we start a family. We want to use the money to help others."

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