Kalistan

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Crown Princess Carolina Ananto-Hulanevek completes National Service



Crown Princess Talks National Service, College, and Music
Her Highness Crown Princess Carolina Ananto-Hulanevek prepares for Future
Kaliburg, Grand Duchy of Ananto
July 22, 5568

Her Highness, Crown Princess Carolina Ananto-Hulanevek, 22 has completed her term of National Service, and is preparing to begin coursework at Kaliburg Polytechnic in Kaliburg in September.  As she is welcomed back to civilian life, Her Grace has granted La Moda an exclusive interview where she discusses her preparations for her future.

(La Moda's) D(iane) C(urtis):  Hello Your Grace.  It is a pleasure to meet you today.

(Her Highness, Crown Princess) C(arolina) A(nanto-Hulanevek):  Ms. Curtis, I am glad to speak with you today.  And welcome to Wilson House.

DC:  This home is beautiful.  It is full of light.

CA:  Yes, there are so many windows, its quite impressive. 

DC:  Your Grace, can you tell me a little about the history of Wilson House?

CA:  Well, Wilson house was originally a mansion for some wealthy family.  It was part of kind of this private, gated neighborhood that was on Wilson Hill that was full of summer homes belonging to wealthy citizens of Kaliburg.  But in 5535, Prince Bjorn, my dad's father, and my Uncle Mark Ananto-Orleans, decided to buy the neighborhood out to give the Anantos a place outside of downtown, where Prince Bjorn and Empress Nicolette used to own a townhome.  So they bought all this land, and got rid of a bunch of houses up here on the hill, so that its more of a park now than a neighborhood.  Wilson House was the main house that the Anantos wanted to keep, because it has such a beautiful view and has access to Davon Bay and everything.  Wilson House was always intended to be the family's home.  And we always lived between here and Eveari, but after my father's death, my mother, I think preferred Eveari, which is where I spent most of my time as a kid, and we only came up to Kaliburg when my mother was needed at the Imperial Seat, or when we had guests.  And now that I am done with national service, my mother has suggested I take Wilson House as my residence so she can stay in Eveari more.  She'll still come into town often and will stay with me at Wilson House, but she will take informal audiences in Eveari from now on.

DC:  So this whole house is yours?

CA:  The whole peninsula, really.  It's an estate.  I want to allow people to take recreation here.  We have excellent beaches on the other side of the peninsula, and there is no reason that the people of Kaliburg can't enjoy the parkland too.  Perhaps I can get the National Assembly to declare the peninsula, outside the immediate grounds of the House here, to be a national park.  Though my mother is set against that, so that may have to wait.  She would be worried about my safety if I did that.

DC:  So Your Grace, would you care to comment on your time in the National Service?

CA:  Certainly.  First let me say, that National Service was so good for me, and I am so incredibly proud to have had the opportunity to serve my Nation in this way.  My mother and father always told me about how important National Service was, and I am happy to report that they are right.  Corps after Corps, generation after generation, we build this Empire, so that every man, woman, and child who is born in Kalistan can know that they truly own this nation.  It is ours.  We built it, and we own it, and we will never let anyone take it from us.  These values are inculcated into the Conscripts from day one, and you won't find a single Kalistani Citizen, I think, who disagrees with that idea.

DC:  I have done National Service myself, and I can agree with that sentiment, though perhaps a bit less fervently than you.  For me, it was something I had to do, and something I did and I was proud of it.  But Your Grace speaks like a zealot.  And that is doubly interesting given that you moved to Kalistan when you were six.

CA:  So much more so then.  As an immigrant, I was particularly lucky in that I wasn't just any immigrant, but my mother married an Emperor. (laughs).  My father gave us both a great life, and while it is sad that I didn't get to know him longer before that terrorist took him from us, he nonetheless set an example that I am proud to follow.  I have embraced Kalistan as my home since I was a little girl, and I will live the rest of my life a proud citizen of Kalistan.

DC:  You grew up speaking Lurrian, from Kundrati.  And yet, I wouldn't be able to tell just from listening to Your Grace speak today.

CA:  Thank you.  In fact, when my mother and father fell in love, I had just started school in Kundrati.  I think I was in my first, kindergarten year, so I didn't even learn to read in Lurrian--I learned to read Vrassan and Egelian.  My mother barely spoke Vrassan and went to language classes for several years.  She can speak several languages, but Vrassan, or in Kundrati, Luthorian, was not one she used often.  So at first, she always said she felt more comfortable speaking Canrillais to my father than Vrassan.  But my mother insisted that I learn Vrassan.  I went through a very intensive Vrassan language course to catch me up when I was six or so, and by the time I was seven, I had mostly mastered Vrassan, so I wouldn't stand out in my classes to my peers.

DC:  For your language, I am guessing, Your Grace.

CA:  (laughs)  yes, for my language.  I couldn't do much about... you know, the other thing.  (laughs again)  But my mother was still working on learning Vrassan to speak with my father and she really worked very hard, and my father was so patient with her, and I think she got enough of it after a couple years to speak confidently in Vrassan as well though, as you know, she still has an accent and has to speak slowly so she can translate from Lurrian into Canrillaise and then into Vrassan.  And she also relied on me to help her too.  And when we lost my father, and had to move to Gaduridos for a while, and my Uncle spoke basically Egelian and Vrassan, my mother told him that if she didn't speak Vrassan she would feel so isolated.  I think she still practices, but she more or less never spoke in Lurrian around our house, so I have lost most of that.  I still can pick up parts of it, and may take classes just to try to remember it, but that was 16 years ago, where I have only spoken Vrassan, Egelian, and Canrillais, and so going back to Lurrian might be kind of difficult now, especially since I learned grammar as a Vrassan speaker.  It's way different than Lurrian.

DC:  Speaking of learning, Your Grace is enrolled at Kaliburg Polytechnic for the fall.  What will you be studying?

CA:  I think I really found my calling in National Service.  Civil Engineering is my passion.  I think I can be of great service to this Empire as a civil engineer.  Building bridges and surveying land, and applying load coefficients is all pretty exciting to me:  You can really see how the math works in a very practical sense in civil engineering.  While I remain Crown Princess and am in school, I have been given the opportunity to do an apprenticeship here in Kaliburg, where we are going to re-survey much of the city.  In some places, it was discovered to be about 16 feet off from the original plat, due to a lot of things, like earthquakes, and things like this, and they want to get accurate property lines and so forth.  So I will be working with Markson and Gamble and Associates, the engineering firm here in the Capital as a survey station operator while I am in school.  My mother has agreed that I can do this, something I really enjoy, while I am in school, and kind of ease into administrative training part time.

DC:  Does Your Grace mean training to become Empress?

CA:  Yes, the State has developed an actual training course for Government Administration.  I think it was initially developed for Nicolette II when she was Crown Princess.  As you know, Kalistan has a strange government.  The Empress is clothed in immense power, and she has to know how all the levers of Government operate so she can pull the right ones when she needs to.  My mother is kind of a one-woman show.  The National Assembly exists to put her pronouncements into effect, so she needs to know how to develop policy priorities, and manage the different factions of government and stakeholders in society.  It is really a very intensive job, and they want to make sure I am as ready as I can be, so Kalistan can have competent Government that is bent on justice and serves the National Interest.  She also didn't get to take any courses, because she only became Empress in response to a number of protests in the country.  So, she knows how important it is to prepare me to take over for her when she is finally ready to retire.

DC:  How would Your Grace rate Her Imperial Majesty as an administrator?

CA:  Oh, please be careful Ms. Curtis.  That can be a loaded question, and can get both of us into some trouble.  There are lines that even I don't cross, if you follow.

DC:  Respectfully, Your Grace, you would know better than anyone.  And Her Imperial Majesty, the Empress is sometimes a little difficult to get a read on.  So, perhaps, I can rephrase the question:  What are some successes and some... challenges... faced by Her Imperial Majesty as she leads the nation, and would you do anything differently?

CA:  Well, I think I could answer that.  Let's see.  My mother and father shared a vision of the Empire at the forefront of the conversation in Seleya, and I think both she and my father, posthumously, have achieved this.  The World seldom talks about Seleya without also sparing a few words for Kalistan.  We have expanded our position in Terra, and my mother has been the primary driver behind this.  Maybe my mother can be...  she can be touchy sometimes, maybe that's a good way to say it, and she has said as much.  I think she went through a lot in Kalistan, and there are some security things here, but she cannot tolerate, and really I can't either, other nations running Kalistan down.  It feels like an insult to the memory of my Father, and I think she takes that very very seriously.  She doesn't forget, and rarely forgives, especially those who do not treat Kalistan with the respect she thinks it deserves, and I certainly agree with that attitude as well.  This country has meant so much for so many people, most of all my mother and I, and it is unconscionable that anyone would ever say a bad word about it anywhere.  As for what I would do differently, I think we can stand to mend some bridges someday.  Some people who have slighted my mom will have to be forgiven someday.  That might have to wait until she retires and can let it go.

DC:  Is Luthori on that list?

CA:  Haha.  How did I know you would say that?

DC:  It is an obvious question, Your Grace.

CA:  No it is not on any list.  The grievances Kalistan has with Luthori are myriad, most of them preceding my mother's reign.  Including Luthori's insistence that they have a role in our Continent.  I wish to be emphatic, and my mother has also been unequivocal about this too.  Luthori has no legitimate place on Seleyan soil.  This is not going to change.  If Luthori wishes to improve relations, they could do one thing today.  Their Empress could abandon her misguided commonwealth, and treat with those states as fully independent and sovereign nations, as Kalistan does.  Short of that, Kalistan and Luthori have nothing to talk about.  It is a non-negotiable for Kalistan.  I don't think I am violating any state secrets by saying that.

DC:  What about other countries, such as those that are choosing to participate in the SocIntern.

CA:  I will be honest:  I don't feel qualified to speak about that.  I can just refer you to the Empress' recent statements, and tell you that her word is Kalistani Policy on all matters.  Will it be forever?  Obviously not, because someday my word will be policy.  Until then, Kalistan has one Sovereign, and her name is Empress Pavlina I Ananto, and so that's who speaks for Kalistan on all matters of State.

DC:  Fair enough, your Grace.  Moving on to questions of culture.  Who are you listening to these days?

CA:  Music wise, I am really loving that band The Republic.  It's really chill music.  Kinda jazzy, kinda soulful.  I really like it.

DC:  So you've left Noise behind?

CA:  Not really behind, but I think my tastes are expanding.  The Republic's album is like rainy day music.  The kind you just stay inside for, drinking warm coffee, maybe with some gold burning.  Its got psychedelic moments, it has nature sounds, and her voice is so interesting and moody.  Its a whole vibe, you know?  Noise is good for when you want to jump up and down and wake up, but I think as I get older, the mellow stuff is also very attractive to me too.

DC:  Do you often see live music?

CA:  Well, I've only been out of the Service for about a month.  I have been able to take in a couple shows.  I did see Marcus Carrangus in Luxon this month.  He's quite excellent, very enjoyable, really funky.  But you know what I would really like to see?

DC:  What's that, Your Grace?

CA:  I'd like to go to a Ganjam.  I wonder if anyone is working to put one of those together.  My father's mom went to one and I think its time they did another one.

DC:  I think if anyone can make that happen, It would be Your Grace.

CA:  I think so.

DC:  Well, I want to say I appreciate your willingness to speak so candidly, and your willingness to speak with us today.

CA:  It's completely my pleasure.  We should get these interviews in because I think when they make me the Empress, I won't be able to speak so informally anymore.  This whole thing would be illegal if I was my mom.

DA:  Indeed.  I think that may be a good thing, that separation.

CA:  So I am told.  But anyway, I really enjoyed speaking with you.

DA:  Thank you Your Grace.

CA:  It was a lot of fun.  Thank you for talking with me.