Profile: The Groom

Secret Origin

Joel was born in 1972 in the Philippines. He was raised in Toronto, Canada since the age of 2. He has a younger brother named Jonathan and two saintly parents, Maria and Juan.

Education

Joel can't remember what primary schools he attended because it was such a long time ago but does recall his high school years at Neil McNeil - an all boys Catholic institution. He then attended the University of Toronto to pursue an Economics degree. When he failed his first semester economics course he thought it would be a good idea to change majors. He decided to turn to Anthropology and finished with a degree in Archaeology. He returned to school in 1999 to get a Cartography diploma at Sir Sandford Fleming College in Lindsay, Canada.

Work

Joel has held various jobs as a landscaper, dishwasher, waiter, sticker-stuffer-packager, finance admin dude, magazine factory worker and mailman. He worked in Greece from time to time as an archaeologist for 4 years. Realising that he could not sustain a living as the Filipino Indiana Jones he started a career in cartography. He worked for a small mapping consulting company and held several positions in the Canadian government. Joel got his break when the UN foolishly hired him in 2005 as a cartographer and technical expert (he still does not know what that last part means). He currently does web stuff for the ReliefWeb project in Geneva, Switzerland.

Life

Joel loves to travel and eats anything that Vinuon cooks for him. He likes to swim and sing off-key and line dance when drunk.

First Memory of Vinuon

"I first remember seeing Vinuon at a summer party. She ignored me for the next 8 months. She was in denial... I was smitten..."

5 things you didn't know about Joel

1. His favourite job was as a landscaper - great boot tan
2. If he could do anything he would be a baker - he makes a mean banana bread
3. He wishes he could grow a full blown handlebar mustache - the foo-man-choo 'stache does not cut it
4. His favourite song is "The House of the Rising Sun" by the Animals - his dad used to sing it when he was a child
5. He stuttered very badly as a child and could not say the words 'omaha' or 'licorice'