July 11, 2019 – Help Teodora Lazovic, a fantastic asset for Croatian-Korean tourism, win this language contest and a trip to Korea.
Firstly, congratulations, Korea – what a great idea and way to promote your language. Something that Croatia could imitate, perhaps. Invite Korean-speaking foreigners around the world to send in a video about themselves and their connection to Korea – in Korean. The winner receives a trip to the country they have fallen in love with.
And a young lady from Zagreb is in pole position to win – and you can help Teodora Lazovic over the line by liking and commenting on her video below. Even though I don’t speak a word of Korean, her self-taught Korean sounds incredible. Read on!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v=C4gk19k5f-4
This year has been a great year for Croatian – Korean relations, starting with Korean Air’s establishment of the first direct line from Incheon to Zagreb, to opening both the Croatian tourism board office and the Croatian Consulate in Seoul. The tourism board must be doing something right with Koreans being by far the most numerous tourist group in Zagreb and topping the tourist charts in Split and Dubrovnik as well. This has all resulted in a joint Korean-Croatian police force cooperation from July to September in these three cities as part of the Safe Tourism Season project.
Croatia has yet another surprise for Korea this season and it’s a Croatian girl who speaks fluent Korean. You might think you read it wrong, but if you don’t believe me, go and see it for yourself. Just 2 days before the deadline, Teodora entered the 4th KBS World Radio Korean language contest and managed to jump from last to first place in less than 24 hours. The competition is international, and she is so far the only representative of the Ex-Yu region. The only three other European countries represented are Turkey, Germany and France.
With no certified Korean language course in Croatia, learning from her own room is an accomplishment that we slowly begin to see globally with millennials learning everything online from their homes. A good reason to support her in this competition is not just the effort she put in learning such an unrepresented and exotic language in Croatia but also her passion for promoting Croatia in Korea. The only evaluation criteria for the preliminary round are views and likes on the YouTube video, and if you still haven’t clicked on the link up there, here are some other great reasons to think about streaming it instead.
Her first encounter with Korean culture was taekwondo that she learnt from the only Korean trainer in Croatia, Mr. Hong in Taekwondo club Dubrava. Her love for Korea was further ignited by the phenomenon that is globally known as Korean Wave, a strategically planned promotion of Korean culture through Korean entertainment industry, mainly K-pop and Korean dramas. From just fun and games, she went straight business and made her dreams come true by visiting Korea, working with Korean embassy on various occasions and for a while for Uniline, the best DMC company in Croatia in 2019.
Last year in February she was the youngest tour leader to ever lead Croatian Olympic Committee on their trip, this time around to the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang. Last July, she started Korea Croatia Events, a student event management organization focused on Korea-Croatia related events, from K-pop parties, educational workshops and film screenings filling up Cineplexx Cinemas in their full capacity in both Zagreb and Split as well as Kino Valli in Pula (more than 3000 sold tickets) to numerous other successful events in less than a year of their establishment. With a wish of becoming a representative of Croatia in Korea and a through guide for Koreans in Croatia, we think she has a bright and busy future ahead.
Good luck!
Check out Teodora’s video entry below and show your support by liking and commenting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v=C4gk19k5f-4
For more news about Croatian-Korean links, check out the dedicated TCN section.
