'Survivor: Samoa's' Elizabeth Kim: Tried to make a 'Yuppie Alliance'

Elizabeth "Liz" Kim was the 8th person to be sent home from "Survivor: Samoa." She assures us that Russell was slippery and the weather was "100 times worse" than what we saw on TV.

What were you up to before Survivor?
I am an urban planner in the Bloomberg administration, I love my job.

Is that what you're back doing now?
Absolutely, I was very much happy and looking forward to returning to my normal life because what happened this summer was very out of the ordinary. It wasn't easy being on that island with those conditions.

That was my next question. Was the weather as bad as it looked on TV or was it actually like 100 times worse?
It was 100 times worse. I had done my research and Samoa was supposed to be going through the dry season! We had five days straight of torrential rain. You have to understand in the context. Your body is stressed beyond belief. You're starved, you're sleep-deprived, you're the world's biggest loser when it comes to challenges and none of us signed on to watch the game from the sidelines in all the rain. The rain can crack even the toughest shell. I felt very deflated but I wasn't complaining. Jaison was our tribe's biggest complainer and it's hard when someone is complaining and whining all the time.

Speaking of Jaison, Last night they edited it to make us think that Jaison might be in danger. Was that actually the case? Or were you pretty sure you were headed home?
I wasn't surprised. There was as a point earlier in the day when I was like, "Wow, Jaison really didn't pull his weight in the challenge and he's twice my size. There might be a chance that I'm staying." But I certainly wasn't blindsided. I knew that I was on Russell's hit list. When I look at the nubmers, even if we had just won one more challenge, I would've made it to the merge. But I was the odd man out. Russell had Natalie wrapped around his pinky finger and Mick and Jaison were together. I tried to work on them for a Yuppie Alliance but what I hadn't realized was that Russell had already gotten to them when he showed them the Idol.

The only shot I had was in winning challenges so I gave 110% because it was the only way I knew I wasn't going to get sent home. It's not a meritocracy though, and sometimes it's who you know that's more important. During my time in the game, I wasn't in Russell's camp. He was threatened by me. He's a chauvinist pig with a fragile ego and when confronted by a strong woman, he got them booted. It happened with Marisa and Betsy. If we had just won one more challenge I would've stayed and it would've been a different game.

Next week is the merge. Do you think your tribe will stick together and try to snag Shambo?
I think so. At this point, when you're so far down in the numbersn you have to stick together. Sink or swim. Russell has the power because he has the Idol and I think they're going to try to get Shambo into their tribe but Russell might shake it up because he's formed that secret alliance with Laura.  If Mick and Jaison are smart they will get Shambo, but it's anybody's game at this point.

Have you been surprised at what you've seen from Russell on TV that you didn't see when you were out there?
No. I was the only one who (at least in the beginning) who thought he was slippery. I didn't trust him. I was lying next to him when he was telling us his Katrina story and he said he turned around and Rocky was gone and I thought something was fishy but unlike Marisa I chose not to call him out on it. My  whole strategy was to be flexible and to talk less, listen more. I did that up until almost two weeks into the game and I finally couldn't take it anymore and I called Russell out on the beach about the Idol. I think that's how I avoided being part of his Dumb Ass Girl alliance. he knew not to mess with me, he knew I was smarter. Only when I confronted him did I get on his hit list.

Who are you rooting for?
I'm rooting for Mick or Jaison. Maybe even Natalie. You know, Jaison as whiny as he was and Natalie as whiny as she was and Mick as robotic as he was, I still like to think that one of my tribemates made it to the finals. I always like rooting for the underdog and we're certainly the underdogs, losing challenge after challenge. Perhaps even Russell because to his credit, he played the game. I'll give him that much.

If you had to pick somebody form Galu?
I like Eric and I like David. They are both smart and savvy strategic players. I don't' think the women are gonna make it and as much as I like Shambo personally, you can read her like an open book. She's not gonna make it far at all. David has a good head on his shoulders and Eric has the Idol.

Final thoughts?
I think I was eliminated because I was a serious threat, pure and simple. Sometimes it jsut goes to show you that giving 110% is not enough in this game. You still need to find somebody to trust and I was very much alone. Natalie and Russell are a unit and Jaison and Mick are a unit and as much as I worked on them, I was already hung out to dry. I was the odd man out.

Thanks so much for speaking with me today, Liz.
Thank you.