TRAVERSE CITY -- When Michael Zernow used to Google search his name, the results were mostly just his Traverse City Central High School track or wrestling highlights.
Now, after the Traverse City native's face was beamed worldwide last year during nine episodes of "Survivor: China," Zernow, aka "Frosti," learns things about himself even he didn't know.
"I have found pictures of myself on the Internet that I have no idea where they came from," said Zernow.
On Saturday night, he'll appear on stage in Lars Hockstad Auditorium at Central Grade School, where he actually spent some of his elementary school years. Back there now, he'll share stories from "Survivor" and his experiences leaping around the globe as a traceur, or practitioner of the sports of parkour and freerunning.
The appearance is hosted by the Unitarian Universalist Grand Traverse congregation. One dollar from each ticket benefits Pete's Place, a homeless shelter for teens.
Zernow, 21, competed on the 15th installment of "Survivor," filmed at the huge manmade Zhelin Lake in the Jiangxi Province in the People's Republic of China. He made it through nine of 13 episodes before being voted off.
A flock of fans gathered at the Blue Tractor Cook Shop on Union Street to watch each episode, joining Frosti's parents. Doug Zernow and Merilyn Ueno live in Traverse City and operate Zernow Advertising.
Frosti was actually on hand for the second episode party at the Blue Tractor. He said that although he knew the ending beforehand, even he got anxious watching the show unfold.
"It's very separating from the actual experience, like an out of body experience," he said. "You're watching yourself, but it doesn't feel like you, it doesn't look like you -- I don't often run around in my underwear in the jungle, starving and covered in dirt."
He was legally bound to keep tight-lipped about the outcome. While he was unable to tell even friends or family, some friends kept trying to "trick me into revealing some secret."
On the show, Zernow was a member of the Zhan Hu (Fighting Tiger) tribe, pitted against the Fei Long (Flying Dragon) tribe in the popular CBS strategy and survival reality series. At 20, he was the youngest contestant ever on "Survivor."
Much was made of his supposed romance with fellow contestant Courtney Yates, an attractive blond waitress from New York City. It was strictly friendship, Zernow said, although many people wanted otherwise.
Yates eventually helped vote Zernow off the show at the end of the ninth episode. By that point, the two tribes had merged.
Before the episode's conclusion, Zernow competed in an Immunity Challenge involving a memory game with a series of Chinese zodiac symbols, which he lost to cast member Peih-Gee Law.
After getting voted off, Zernow said he hung out in a bungalow "and ate rip-off Doritos and watched bootleg DVDs, but I had a great time. After you get voted off, you just chill, and all I wanted to do was eat anyway."
Since the show ended, he's found himself with newfound fame. He commonly gets recognized in places like Australia, Las Vegas, San Francisco, and wherever else he stops on his parkour tour with a group of K-Swiss sponsored traceurs. The Tribe, as the group is known, also includes Levi "SkyNative" Meeuwenberg, of Traverse City.
"You do get stopped. It's always in weird places like elevators and airports, or restaurants," he said. "Even people who don't know much about the show, they're kind of nicer to you, even though you haven't really done anything. People get really excited about it and I'm just like 'Well, all I really did was live in the jungle. People do that all the time. Lots of people are hungry, I just happened to be hungry on TV'."
Through the Internet, he's able to maintain contact with his friends from China as well.
"Everybody's doing their own thing now. Erik's still doing tons of music, and Jamie's still in school, but I try to stay in touch with all of them," he said. "You have this really intense bond with them because of this unique experience you had. I don't think those friendships ever really go away."
"Survivor" has been quite a boost in his career as a traceur as well. His resume includes touring with Madonna in 2006, working as a stunt double in the pilot episode of the NBC series "Chuck," and appearing in the Mountain Dew Report and at promotional events for Mercedes, Nokia, The New Yorker magazine, Red Bull and K-Swiss shoes
"As far as the show goes, I just want to tell people how it was," he said. "Anybody that wanted to has already seen it. But there's so much more that happened, like basically all the crazy stuff we end up doing just to fill up the rest of the time -- we were actually only doing stuff (on camera) for like seven of the 27 days I was out there."
Saturday's event begins at 8 p.m., with doors opening at 7 p.m. Tickets are $12 for adults $8 for students. They're available at Belstone Gallery, Oryana Natural Foods, Right Brain Brewery, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation office or by calling 947-3117. They'll also be sold at the door if available.
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