Good News and Pretty Girl

I just got word from the fine folks over at the European Union that I've been short-listed for a two year scholarship to study Chinese-English conference interpretation. As they say in Chinese: 卜牙!

They'll be flying me out to Beijing next month to do a face-to-face interview, quiz me on a lot of E.U. trivia I know nothing about, and conduct some sight-translation and interpreting-aptitude tests.

I'm very excited and very confident. I've got three weeks to beef up my general understanding of the E.U. and current Sino-European affairs, and I'm ready to show 'em what my Chinese is made of.

Though really, it's more about showing myself......

Anyway, very excited about that, even though the thought of leaving this gorgeous city to live in Beijing or Shanghai for two years is a bummer to say the least. My darling Romanov is less than thrilled, too-- my good news ruined her appetite yesterday as she contemplated the various uncertain possibilities.

Speaking of Chernobyl (who is insisting to no avail that I append "beautiful, little" to the beginning of that title at each reference), she was not happy that I posted a photo of us hiking on my blog. Not for privacy reasons, but rather that she wanted something a little, well, less "hikey."

In the name of appeasement and nuclear maintenance, therefore, I offer up two "approved" photos of the little minx.