Where in the World is Cat?

At the think tank where I work here in Moscow, we often have many meetings and events occurring simultaneously. This includes interviews with our resident experts. If space is really tight, sometime crews will come up to the library (where my "office" is located) to shoot one-on-one interviews.

Today a crew came up with the whole shebang - two cameras, lights, microphones, hanging mics. They were interviewing an expert on U.S.-Russia relations. They asked questions about Putin and Bush, the U.S. Presidential elections and the future for our two countries. After the 30 minute interview, the expert ran off to his next meeting and left the crew to pack up.

I, during all of this, listened intently - as I usually do - interested to hear what questions are asked (some are so silly that they answer themselves) and then hear what opinions are experts will answer with. Considering the topic of the interview, my interest was peaked.

Noticing that I was reading English, the woman reporter asked me if I was from America. I said yes. She looked at her co-worker, standing nearby. Both exchanged glances.

Two minutes later I was in the hot seat, microphone clipped to my shirt and a bright light shining in my face. Typical questions were asked: What do Americans think of Russia? What wrong impressions do Russians have of Americans? I unfortunately gave dreadfully general and simple answers, only because I couldn't figure out the grammar to express the more complex ideas whirling in my head. I think I was more disappointed than they were with the lackluster answers I provided, much less my grammar. (I've been here for two years! I can do better.) I wished they could have asked me about the elections or democracy - that I could have answered like a pro!

After the quick interview, I learned that the group was from Orinberg, a small city in the Urals. Whew. No one's gonna watch it anyways. Good to practice for the future though.....