Hello, amazing followers! Are you ready to welcome a kind, supersweet, blonde woman?
Did you guess who’s today’s guest? If you haven’t yet, let me introduce you to… Alina Cincan!
Welcome to my coffeece, dear!
How are you? How are things going? I am so glad you made it and you are sitting here with me to have a lovely chat together.
Thank you so much for accepting the invitation and give me (and the audience) the chance to know you better.
First of all, congratulations for the titles you were awarded last summer. Your hard work has been repaid! [ Check the full list of winners here. ] I am so thrilled! We haven’t met in person, yet. (Yes, I know. It still is a little bit weird when I speak with people and I know them through social media and I feel like knowing them since forever). I have this positive, peaceful feeling about Alina, and I am sure you are going to enjoy a pleasing, calm chat.
Please, Alina, make yourself at home and grab your cup of coffee. ☕💙

Well, I have my papers ready. I am going to ask you six sets plus a Bonus Qs section of questions covering your personal profile rather than the professional one. Today, you are going to answer the shorter part (the first three sets), then, tomorrow, the remainder of them.

Everything’s clear? Good. Let’s start!

• What’s your full name?
▷ Alina Cincan. That’s it, no middle name(s). However, my mum has always called me ‘Alice’. Why this was not included on my birth certificate is beyond me.

• What do you do for a living?
▷ I translate (English into Romanian) and run a translation agency (Inbox Translation) – not just for a living, but with a lot of love.

• When is your birthday? I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable with this question, so if you like I just would like to know your birth month or at least your birth season…
▷ Every year, in autumn. 😊

• How tall are you? (*We all know who is taking notes…*)
▷ A better question in my case should be ‘How short are you?’ 😊 I am only 5 foot tall (1.52 m to be exact), so basically a minion.

• Zodiac – what’s your sign?
▷ Virgo, but I don’t believe in horoscopes.

• Where do you live?
▷ I currently live in London, UK, but I was born in Romania (in a city called Ploiesti).

• What’s your favourite colour?
▷ Black. If this is not acceptable as an answer (as it is a non-colour), purple. [ **You must feel like home here, then!** ]

• When you were young what would you like to become when you grow up?
▷ Well, let’s see: teacher (I did become one in the end), police officer, lawyer and a few other things in between.

• Do you like animals? Have you got any pets?
▷ I wouldn’t trust a person who didn’t like animals. ☺ I love dogs and I find owls really, really cute. I don’t have a pet at the moment, but I did have a Guinea pig once – pictures below. Wasn’t she sweet?

• Coffee or tea?
▷ Coffee!!! I drink tea as well, but coffee is still my favourite drink.

• Day or night?
▷ It depends for what. I seem to be pretty productive during the evening – especially when it comes to organising, planning and the like.

• Sea or mountain?
▷ Mountain.

• Early bird or namastay in bed?
▷ Neither. I don’t have a problem waking up early when needed, but I don’t like it. However, I don’t stay in bed until late either, not even during weekends.

• Have you ever played an instrument? If yes, which one? If no, have you got a favourite instrument or would you like to learn how to play one?
▷ Unfortunately no. When I was little, I wanted to play the piano, but now I think I’d like to be able to play the guitar.

• What’s an absolute must when you go out or travel? (Something you wouldn’t ever leave at home)
▷ My Kindle.

• Favourite food
▷ Cheese.

• Do you like cooking? If yes, what’s your specialty?
▷ I don’t mind cooking. I do like to try interesting recipes from time to time, and I haven’t had any complaints from my partner nor have I ever poisoned anyone, so I can manage I’d say. Specialty? I don’t have one. 😔 [ **Awww… Don’t worry! You can specialise in cooking anytime and find your specialty in the future!** ]

• Sneakers or heels?
▷ What do you think? At 5 foot tall? Heels all the way! As some of you know, I have a bit of an obsession with shoes. Among the many pairs I own, I only have three pairs of flat footwear (a pair of trainers, a pair of warm boots and a recently purchased pair of sandals). That’s it. All the rest are high heels. 😊 Some of them really high in fact. [ **Please, show me your collection!** ]

• Sporty or lazybones?
▷ Neither. I do try to exercise as often as I can (even if is just walking), but there are days when I don’t.

• If you like them, which is your favourite board game?
▷ Not a big fan.

• What’s your favourite book and the last one you read/you’re reading?
▷ Asking me to choose a favourite book is like asking a mother to choose her favourite child. 😊 One of the best books I have ever read is José Saramago’s Blindness, so this is definitely in my Top 10. The last one I read was The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. Brilliant book, by the way.

• Do you consider yourself a geek?
▷ Does half-geek count? [ **Yes, of course! LOL** ]

• Pc or Mac?
▷ PC.

• If you have a smartphone, Android, iOS, or Windows?
▷ Android.

• If you use social media, which is your favourite one?
▷ While I am active on most social media platforms, my favourite one is Twitter.

• Are you a gamer?
▷ I do play computer games occasionally, but very rarely lately.

• If yes, what’s your favourite video game of all time?

▷ Heroes of Might and Magic 3.

Well, we are running out of time! I am truly sorry, because I would like to talk to you more today, but, don’t worry, this is your week and we are going to meet up again tomorrow! So… Have a little patience, followers! Thank you so much for today’s answers, Alina! Be prepared for tomorrow. 😉

Follow me and Alina to read the latest news while you are waiting for the second part of the interview!

If you enjoyed the first part of the chat, share it on social media using the hashtag #guesswhonesec and leave a comment.
If you want to take part in the series, just drop me a line.

~Cee

Who’s Alina? ▷ Alina is a former teacher, translator and interpreter with over 10 years’ experience, now Managing Director at Inbox Translation and a conference speaker. She is a language geek who likes to keep up to date with what’s happening in the industry. When not writing on the company’s award-winning blog – “Closer Wor(l)ds“, she is writing on other people’s. She also has a soft spot for sushi, make-up, shoes and owls. You can get in touch on Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn.

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