1<br>00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,480<br>What's up everybody, welcome back to the All Things Croatia podcast.<br><br>2<br>00:00:04,480 --> 00:00:09,600<br>I'm your host, Stanko Zovak, and I'm bringing you the best of Croatia from around the globe.<br><br>3<br>00:00:09,600 --> 00:00:14,840<br>This episode is brought to you by Adriatic Tours, the best place since 1974 to book your<br><br>4<br>00:00:14,840 --> 00:00:19,080<br>cruises, tours, flights, and simply All Things Croatia.<br><br>5<br>00:00:19,080 --> 00:00:23,480<br>Use the personalized code, All Things Croatia, to get a special discount and book your trip<br><br>6<br>00:00:23,480 --> 00:00:25,000<br>to Croatia today.<br><br>7<br>00:00:25,000 --> 00:00:31,720<br>For more information, go to www.adriatictours.com or click the link in the description.<br><br>8<br>00:00:31,720 --> 00:00:37,080<br>Now either modalia, and let's get started.<br><br>9<br>00:00:37,080 --> 00:00:39,440<br>Alright welcome back to the podcast everybody.<br><br>10<br>00:00:39,440 --> 00:00:42,440<br>In this episode we have special guest Ida Hamer.<br><br>11<br>00:00:42,440 --> 00:00:47,640<br>Ida is a television journalist and reporter for RTL who was raised in Zagreb, went to<br><br>12<br>00:00:47,640 --> 00:00:52,520<br>the UK for school and decided to move back to Croatia and start her career.<br><br>13<br>00:00:52,520 --> 00:00:57,720<br>She also started and runs the project, Straanatsu Hojavatskoe, where she interviews foreigners<br><br>14<br>00:00:57,720 --> 00:01:03,160<br>who moved to Croatia about their experience and why they decided to live there.<br><br>15<br>00:01:03,160 --> 00:01:07,200<br>In this episode we're going to learn more about her, her projects, and her interviews.<br><br>16<br>00:01:07,200 --> 00:01:09,720<br>Ida, thanks for coming on the podcast.<br><br>17<br>00:01:09,720 --> 00:01:11,400<br>You're very welcome.<br><br>18<br>00:01:11,400 --> 00:01:15,640<br>I appreciate you taking the time to come on here, the All Things Croatia podcast.<br><br>19<br>00:01:15,640 --> 00:01:21,600<br>I'd first seen you, I forget how many months ago, maybe four or five months ago, for your<br><br>20<br>00:01:21,600 --> 00:01:26,440<br>Straanatsu Hojavatskoe project, where of course you're talking to people not from Croatia<br><br>21<br>00:01:26,440 --> 00:01:31,160<br>who are here in Croatia, but before we sort of get into that, can you tell us a little<br><br>22<br>00:01:31,160 --> 00:01:32,360<br>bit more about yourself?<br><br>23<br>00:01:32,360 --> 00:01:37,800<br>I know you were born and raised in Zagreb, what was that like for you growing up?<br><br>24<br>00:01:37,800 --> 00:01:43,520<br>I think, can you tell us a bit about yourself is one of the hardest questions always, because<br><br>25<br>00:01:43,520 --> 00:01:49,040<br>then you need to tell us something about yourself and I'm always very bad at it.<br><br>26<br>00:01:49,040 --> 00:01:55,640<br>Yeah, I was born in Zagreb and my parents are from Zagreb, but I spent my childhood<br><br>27<br>00:01:55,640 --> 00:01:58,200<br>in Zabok, which is in Zagreb.<br><br>28<br>00:01:58,200 --> 00:02:05,120<br>Then we moved back to Zagreb when I went to high school and then after that I went to<br><br>29<br>00:02:05,120 --> 00:02:08,240<br>the UK to study.<br><br>30<br>00:02:08,240 --> 00:02:11,280<br>In my high school I used to love theater.<br><br>31<br>00:02:11,280 --> 00:02:17,120<br>I was acting in a theater in a musical, which made me really happy.<br><br>32<br>00:02:17,120 --> 00:02:25,440<br>And during my high school I decided to move to the UK, so then I was kind of working towards<br><br>33<br>00:02:25,440 --> 00:02:27,280<br>that.<br><br>34<br>00:02:27,280 --> 00:02:31,440<br>And I don't know what else to say.<br><br>35<br>00:02:31,440 --> 00:02:33,440<br>So you were still in high school when you moved to the UK?<br><br>36<br>00:02:33,440 --> 00:02:34,440<br>I thought just for a couple...<br><br>37<br>00:02:34,440 --> 00:02:41,040<br>No, I moved to the UK to go to the university, but during my high school somewhere when I<br><br>38<br>00:02:41,040 --> 00:02:47,000<br>was, let's say, my first grade or second grade, actually it was I think second grade.<br><br>39<br>00:02:47,000 --> 00:02:54,920<br>We went to our trip with a school to London as I was attending bilingual school, so it<br><br>40<br>00:02:54,920 --> 00:02:59,080<br>was also kind of part of the whole project to go to London.<br><br>41<br>00:02:59,080 --> 00:03:05,080<br>So we went to London and I kind of fell in love with London at the time.<br><br>42<br>00:03:05,080 --> 00:03:14,000<br>And that's when I actually really made a decision to go and study there, even though I always<br><br>43<br>00:03:14,000 --> 00:03:20,040<br>kind of dreamed of going to study somewhere abroad, but that was the time when I actually<br><br>44<br>00:03:20,040 --> 00:03:25,000<br>decided, okay, I want to go to study abroad definitely.<br><br>45<br>00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:29,800<br>And I at the time still didn't know it's going to be actually UK.<br><br>46<br>00:03:29,800 --> 00:03:36,920<br>There were many different places in my mind that I was reconsidering, but the UK was the<br><br>47<br>00:03:36,920 --> 00:03:40,280<br>one in the end where I ended up.<br><br>48<br>00:03:40,280 --> 00:03:41,400<br>And how did you like it over there?<br><br>49<br>00:03:41,400 --> 00:03:45,240<br>I mean, it's got to be, I've actually I've never been to the UK, but I would imagine<br><br>50<br>00:03:45,240 --> 00:03:49,680<br>it's completely different than Croatia.<br><br>51<br>00:03:49,680 --> 00:03:54,720<br>It was a big challenge for me, I need to say that.<br><br>52<br>00:03:54,720 --> 00:04:00,840<br>When you're like, I just turned 19 when I moved to the UK, and you kind of have that<br><br>53<br>00:04:00,840 --> 00:04:07,560<br>feeling that you're a grown up, but you're actually not a grown up, you are getting there,<br><br>54<br>00:04:07,560 --> 00:04:12,880<br>but you know, you are still not there exactly.<br><br>55<br>00:04:12,880 --> 00:04:20,040<br>And I thought, you know, that I've got everything, you know, that I'm a grown up.<br><br>56<br>00:04:20,040 --> 00:04:24,960<br>But then when you actually go somewhere where you're so far away from your whole support<br><br>57<br>00:04:24,960 --> 00:04:31,320<br>system, your family, your friends, from everything that you've known and where you actually, you<br><br>58<br>00:04:31,320 --> 00:04:39,800<br>know, grew up and you put yourself in a completely different culture with completely new challenges.<br><br>59<br>00:04:39,800 --> 00:04:47,720<br>It is perhaps that's the time when you realize, okay, you know, now I actually need to be<br><br>60<br>00:04:47,720 --> 00:04:55,920<br>that grown up and you need to actually take care of yourself in the whole sense of that<br><br>61<br>00:04:55,920 --> 00:04:56,920<br>word.<br><br>62<br>00:04:56,920 --> 00:05:03,200<br>And I was, I found a job, I was working throughout my whole studies.<br><br>63<br>00:05:03,200 --> 00:05:09,280<br>And at the time when I got there, I didn't know a single person on the island.<br><br>64<br>00:05:09,280 --> 00:05:13,320<br>I later on reconnected with my relative who actually lived in London.<br><br>65<br>00:05:13,320 --> 00:05:20,040<br>So she was kind of here and then took me with her to London on weekends because I was not<br><br>66<br>00:05:20,040 --> 00:05:21,040<br>in London.<br><br>67<br>00:05:21,040 --> 00:05:25,680<br>I moved to Northampton, which is 45 minutes with a train to London.<br><br>68<br>00:05:25,680 --> 00:05:30,160<br>So sometimes over the weekends, I would go to see her and then she would take me to all<br><br>69<br>00:05:30,160 --> 00:05:32,480<br>these amazing places.<br><br>70<br>00:05:32,480 --> 00:05:35,480<br>But at the time, I didn't know a single person on the whole island.<br><br>71<br>00:05:35,480 --> 00:05:42,760<br>So it was very challenging for me and it was a big cultural shock, definitely.<br><br>72<br>00:05:42,760 --> 00:05:50,120<br>You know, the weather is not the weather like what it's like in Croatia.<br><br>73<br>00:05:50,120 --> 00:05:56,440<br>So the whole, you know, raining part and the dark darkness, like it was autumn and then<br><br>74<br>00:05:56,440 --> 00:06:04,400<br>winter and actually the dark started to fall down very, very quickly.<br><br>75<br>00:06:04,400 --> 00:06:11,040<br>And the rain and the wind, that was like very depressing for me because, you know, now even<br><br>76<br>00:06:11,040 --> 00:06:16,840<br>like in November, we had, you know, sunny days, even now today was sunny outside.<br><br>77<br>00:06:16,840 --> 00:06:22,280<br>So that was challenging and, you know, the coffee culture that they don't have and we<br><br>78<br>00:06:22,280 --> 00:06:27,360<br>have it where, you know, you just sit down with your friends and have a cup of coffee<br><br>79<br>00:06:27,360 --> 00:06:31,200<br>and then you talk about everything that bothers you.<br><br>80<br>00:06:31,200 --> 00:06:36,880<br>What was actually a big cultural shock for me were the mobile phones.<br><br>81<br>00:06:36,880 --> 00:06:41,000<br>Like everyone were constantly on their mobile phones.<br><br>82<br>00:06:41,000 --> 00:06:45,240<br>And I was a bit surprised by that because even though we all, of course, had mobile<br><br>83<br>00:06:45,240 --> 00:06:49,720<br>phones in Croatia, when we were together, we were not using them so much.<br><br>84<br>00:06:49,720 --> 00:06:53,680<br>Like we were spending time with each other joking around and stuff like that.<br><br>85<br>00:06:53,680 --> 00:07:01,720<br>And I kind of felt people are more virtually connected than we were virtually connected<br><br>86<br>00:07:01,720 --> 00:07:03,120<br>in Croatia.<br><br>87<br>00:07:03,120 --> 00:07:10,840<br>So all sorts of things like that kind of were very challenging for me.<br><br>88<br>00:07:10,840 --> 00:07:18,680<br>But I think that the experience that I gained there was the experience that I would never<br><br>89<br>00:07:18,680 --> 00:07:22,720<br>gain if I would have stayed in Croatia.<br><br>90<br>00:07:22,720 --> 00:07:27,360<br>Not only the educational part, because the educational system is much different from<br><br>91<br>00:07:27,360 --> 00:07:32,840<br>the one in Croatia, but also the life experience that I got being away from my family, being<br><br>92<br>00:07:32,840 --> 00:07:39,520<br>away from my friends and everything that I've known at the time, studying at a different<br><br>93<br>00:07:39,520 --> 00:07:45,320<br>language, working on a different language, operating completely on a different language.<br><br>94<br>00:07:45,320 --> 00:07:51,880<br>The funny thing is that when I got to the UK, I thought, well, I know English, but I<br><br>95<br>00:07:51,880 --> 00:07:54,800<br>was used to the American English.<br><br>96<br>00:07:54,800 --> 00:08:01,280<br>And then I heard British English and I was like very confused for the first two weeks.<br><br>97<br>00:08:01,280 --> 00:08:07,280<br>Like it was completely different for me to understand it and the jokes that they've made<br><br>98<br>00:08:07,280 --> 00:08:10,520<br>in their own dialects and stuff like that, I didn't understand.<br><br>99<br>00:08:10,520 --> 00:08:14,480<br>So I was kind of like panicking, how am I going to finish the university here?<br><br>100<br>00:08:14,480 --> 00:08:17,720<br>I don't understand anything they're saying.<br><br>101<br>00:08:17,720 --> 00:08:21,880<br>But then after two weeks, of course, it started to be much easier.<br><br>102<br>00:08:21,880 --> 00:08:27,200<br>But yeah, so good experience overall, good experience, good life experience.<br><br>103<br>00:08:27,200 --> 00:08:31,200<br>I really appreciate it with all of its challenges.<br><br>104<br>00:08:31,200 --> 00:08:39,440<br>I really appreciate that I had that experience because that experience actually showed me<br><br>105<br>00:08:39,440 --> 00:08:43,160<br>that perhaps positive sides of Croatia.<br><br>106<br>00:08:43,160 --> 00:08:51,280<br>Like now maybe I'm going off topic, but one of the reasons, like when I moved out of Croatia,<br><br>107<br>00:08:51,280 --> 00:08:56,520<br>I was a teenager, but I saw that some things are not working out here.<br><br>108<br>00:08:56,520 --> 00:09:02,840<br>Like I saw the corruption and nepotism and lack of opportunities and I thought that the<br><br>109<br>00:09:02,840 --> 00:09:05,080<br>grass is greener.<br><br>110<br>00:09:05,080 --> 00:09:10,160<br>So I was kind of a bit perhaps frustrated with the government and with how everything<br><br>111<br>00:09:10,160 --> 00:09:12,640<br>works around here in Croatia.<br><br>112<br>00:09:12,640 --> 00:09:19,760<br>But then when I got to England, after a while I actually realized what are the positives<br><br>113<br>00:09:19,760 --> 00:09:21,440<br>of our country.<br><br>114<br>00:09:21,440 --> 00:09:23,280<br>We have this beautiful nature.<br><br>115<br>00:09:23,280 --> 00:09:27,040<br>We can be at the seaside in two hours if we want to.<br><br>116<br>00:09:27,040 --> 00:09:31,040<br>We still have that big connection with people around us.<br><br>117<br>00:09:31,040 --> 00:09:32,360<br>We have solidarity.<br><br>118<br>00:09:32,360 --> 00:09:38,400<br>I think people are much more connected with each other still here and all sorts of things<br><br>119<br>00:09:38,400 --> 00:09:39,640<br>like that.<br><br>120<br>00:09:39,640 --> 00:09:41,960<br>So I think the opposite happened.<br><br>121<br>00:09:41,960 --> 00:09:49,160<br>I started to romanticize perhaps Croatia a bit more than because I was homesick.<br><br>122<br>00:09:49,160 --> 00:09:54,240<br>But now I think that and even when I came back to Croatia, I was full of optimism and<br><br>123<br>00:09:54,240 --> 00:09:57,280<br>motivation and energy.<br><br>124<br>00:09:57,280 --> 00:10:01,880<br>And then I think I saw everything through pink glasses.<br><br>125<br>00:10:01,880 --> 00:10:09,680<br>But now I can say that I have a really realistic view about both things.<br><br>126<br>00:10:09,680 --> 00:10:11,600<br>I have realistic view.<br><br>127<br>00:10:11,600 --> 00:10:13,600<br>What is it like to live abroad?<br><br>128<br>00:10:13,600 --> 00:10:17,320<br>And I have a realistic view of what is it like to live in Croatia?<br><br>129<br>00:10:17,320 --> 00:10:23,160<br>Croatia is a beautiful country, but it has many of its problems, of course.<br><br>130<br>00:10:23,160 --> 00:10:29,120<br>But it is not necessarily true that the grass is always greener.<br><br>131<br>00:10:29,120 --> 00:10:34,320<br>Well having both those experiences then, living in Croatia, thinking the grass is greener<br><br>132<br>00:10:34,320 --> 00:10:39,760<br>going to the UK and now coming back to Croatia, it sounds like you've decided that the benefits<br><br>133<br>00:10:39,760 --> 00:10:45,600<br>outweigh the pros outweigh the cons coming back and living in Croatia?<br><br>134<br>00:10:45,600 --> 00:10:50,480<br>People always ask me why have you came back?<br><br>135<br>00:10:50,480 --> 00:10:55,280<br>When I actually came back, people were so shocked.<br><br>136<br>00:10:55,280 --> 00:11:03,160<br>And that was the time when all of my peers, my generation, they went abroad.<br><br>137<br>00:11:03,160 --> 00:11:10,480<br>Many of my friends went abroad to study or they went abroad later on in their lives.<br><br>138<br>00:11:10,480 --> 00:11:14,840<br>And some of them are still there, living abroad.<br><br>139<br>00:11:14,840 --> 00:11:19,240<br>So it was a time where it was very popular to move out of Croatia.<br><br>140<br>00:11:19,240 --> 00:11:21,560<br>And I was the person who came back.<br><br>141<br>00:11:21,560 --> 00:11:26,280<br>And that was something that was very shocking for people in Croatia.<br><br>142<br>00:11:26,280 --> 00:11:32,760<br>Like when I would see somebody on the street that I don't perhaps really know, I don't<br><br>143<br>00:11:32,760 --> 00:11:37,880<br>know the person, like a neighbor or somebody like that, people would ask me like, oh my<br><br>144<br>00:11:37,880 --> 00:11:39,760<br>god, why have you moved back?<br><br>145<br>00:11:39,760 --> 00:11:41,320<br>And they were so shocked and surprised.<br><br>146<br>00:11:41,320 --> 00:11:44,280<br>Like the bombs are falling down around us.<br><br>147<br>00:11:44,280 --> 00:11:50,800<br>And I didn't have like, it was kind of like not so motivational for a young person to<br><br>148<br>00:11:50,800 --> 00:11:54,360<br>be coming back to their home country and people were so shocked.<br><br>149<br>00:11:54,360 --> 00:11:59,080<br>And, you know, they approach you like you've made a wrong decision.<br><br>150<br>00:11:59,080 --> 00:12:02,600<br>But I understand where they are coming from.<br><br>151<br>00:12:02,600 --> 00:12:07,960<br>I did understand that at the time and I understand it now.<br><br>152<br>00:12:07,960 --> 00:12:12,240<br>But my answer is not a complicated one.<br><br>153<br>00:12:12,240 --> 00:12:16,760<br>I just decided when I finished the university, it's time to go back home.<br><br>154<br>00:12:16,760 --> 00:12:17,760<br>Like that's it.<br><br>155<br>00:12:17,760 --> 00:12:20,840<br>Like I just said to myself, okay, I'm going back home.<br><br>156<br>00:12:20,840 --> 00:12:26,360<br>So there's nothing complicated behind that decision.<br><br>157<br>00:12:26,360 --> 00:12:29,160<br>It's just that I wanted to go home.<br><br>158<br>00:12:29,160 --> 00:12:30,160<br>That's all.<br><br>159<br>00:12:30,160 --> 00:12:34,720<br>But you're, I mean, are you happy here now that you've been, how long has it been since<br><br>160<br>00:12:34,720 --> 00:12:36,440<br>you returned?<br><br>161<br>00:12:36,440 --> 00:12:38,720<br>It's been five years now.<br><br>162<br>00:12:38,720 --> 00:12:39,720<br>Okay.<br><br>163<br>00:12:39,720 --> 00:12:41,720<br>Am I happy?<br><br>164<br>00:12:41,720 --> 00:12:51,520<br>I would say that sometimes I wonder what would life be like for me if I have stayed.<br><br>165<br>00:12:51,520 --> 00:12:55,080<br>But that doesn't necessarily mean I'm not happy here.<br><br>166<br>00:12:55,080 --> 00:12:59,160<br>Actually I have made a great life here for myself.<br><br>167<br>00:12:59,160 --> 00:13:00,840<br>I do the job that I like.<br><br>168<br>00:13:00,840 --> 00:13:02,200<br>I'm living with my boyfriend.<br><br>169<br>00:13:02,200 --> 00:13:06,800<br>We have our friends surrounding us, our family surrounding us.<br><br>170<br>00:13:06,800 --> 00:13:12,920<br>We have opportunity to make little trips, whether that's somewhere inside of Croatia<br><br>171<br>00:13:12,920 --> 00:13:16,920<br>or in the neighboring countries or somewhere else.<br><br>172<br>00:13:16,920 --> 00:13:22,800<br>So I think that I never, when people are asking me whether I've regretted my decision to move<br><br>173<br>00:13:22,800 --> 00:13:25,400<br>back to Croatia, no, I haven't.<br><br>174<br>00:13:25,400 --> 00:13:27,640<br>And I don't think I ever will.<br><br>175<br>00:13:27,640 --> 00:13:34,240<br>And if I ever feel that I'm regretting it, I probably will move abroad again.<br><br>176<br>00:13:34,240 --> 00:13:39,120<br>I never actually said to myself, okay, I'm going back to Croatia and I'm never moving<br><br>177<br>00:13:39,120 --> 00:13:40,120<br>out of Croatia again.<br><br>178<br>00:13:40,120 --> 00:13:41,720<br>No, that's not true.<br><br>179<br>00:13:41,720 --> 00:13:49,520<br>If I will not be satisfied with my life at some point, perhaps I will look to other options.<br><br>180<br>00:13:49,520 --> 00:13:55,640<br>But at a moment I'm really satisfied how everything is turning out for me.<br><br>181<br>00:13:55,640 --> 00:14:02,520<br>And the thing is, there's a hard work behind it.<br><br>182<br>00:14:02,520 --> 00:14:05,560<br>You can't just accept that your life is going to be perfect.<br><br>183<br>00:14:05,560 --> 00:14:09,000<br>You need to work hard to get the life that you want.<br><br>184<br>00:14:09,000 --> 00:14:14,640<br>And you need to be realistic enough to understand that for some things you need to be patient.<br><br>185<br>00:14:14,640 --> 00:14:20,560<br>And whether that's abroad or here, you need to make your life good for yourself.<br><br>186<br>00:14:20,560 --> 00:14:27,160<br>And that does not necessarily mean that your life is going to be much better if you move<br><br>187<br>00:14:27,160 --> 00:14:28,160<br>abroad.<br><br>188<br>00:14:28,160 --> 00:14:34,480<br>If you have much more opportunities, maybe you will have a great job and great experience,<br><br>189<br>00:14:34,480 --> 00:14:37,640<br>but maybe you will miss your friends or your family.<br><br>190<br>00:14:37,640 --> 00:14:43,800<br>There are always pros and cons for every country, whether that's your home country or a country<br><br>191<br>00:14:43,800 --> 00:14:45,000<br>that's somewhere else.<br><br>192<br>00:14:45,000 --> 00:14:50,440<br>So I think it depends what you want in your life.<br><br>193<br>00:14:50,440 --> 00:14:55,000<br>Yeah, that's a very well-spoken answer for a tough question.<br><br>194<br>00:14:55,000 --> 00:14:56,440<br>Sorry to put you on the spot.<br><br>195<br>00:14:56,440 --> 00:14:57,440<br>Are you happy?<br><br>196<br>00:14:57,440 --> 00:14:58,440<br>No, it's okay.<br><br>197<br>00:14:58,440 --> 00:14:59,440<br>It's a legitimate question.<br><br>198<br>00:14:59,440 --> 00:15:03,440<br>It's a question to think about, though.<br><br>199<br>00:15:03,440 --> 00:15:04,440<br>Definitely.<br><br>200<br>00:15:04,440 --> 00:15:09,520<br>No, I was like, hmm, yeah, but it's a legitimate question.<br><br>201<br>00:15:09,520 --> 00:15:14,800<br>One more question for you about the UK before we get into your career and what you're doing<br><br>202<br>00:15:14,800 --> 00:15:17,520<br>now as far as journalism and reporting.<br><br>203<br>00:15:17,520 --> 00:15:22,200<br>I've heard you see on the internet a bunch of memes and stuff about the food over in<br><br>204<br>00:15:22,200 --> 00:15:23,200<br>England.<br><br>205<br>00:15:23,200 --> 00:15:29,160<br>It's pretty bland and coming from Croatia, which is culturally rich with food, different<br><br>206<br>00:15:29,160 --> 00:15:31,120<br>types of foods and good food.<br><br>207<br>00:15:31,120 --> 00:15:32,120<br>Did you notice anything?<br><br>208<br>00:15:32,120 --> 00:15:34,600<br>Is that a true stereotype about England?<br><br>209<br>00:15:34,600 --> 00:15:42,320<br>I don't want to offend anyone, but to be quite honest, my first shock was I came to England,<br><br>210<br>00:15:42,320 --> 00:15:46,080<br>came to Northampton, and the first thing was, right, I'm here now.<br><br>211<br>00:15:46,080 --> 00:15:49,800<br>I'm going to go and I'm going to drink a cup of coffee somewhere.<br><br>212<br>00:15:49,800 --> 00:15:54,880<br>So I went to this pub, wrong thing to drink coffee in a pub, so I went to this pub and<br><br>213<br>00:15:54,880 --> 00:16:00,200<br>I ordered coffee and I ordered cappuccino and I got it in a really big mug and it was<br><br>214<br>00:16:00,200 --> 00:16:03,440<br>like a soup and I was like, what's this?<br><br>215<br>00:16:03,440 --> 00:16:10,840<br>And it didn't take like coffee, it tasted like milk with perhaps, you know, slightest<br><br>216<br>00:16:10,840 --> 00:16:12,240<br>sip of coffee.<br><br>217<br>00:16:12,240 --> 00:16:19,960<br>So it took me a while to get used to English coffees and I always took some coffee with<br><br>218<br>00:16:19,960 --> 00:16:26,040<br>me when I was going back to Croatia to visit my family and friends over the holidays.<br><br>219<br>00:16:26,040 --> 00:16:31,840<br>I would always take Croatian coffee with me back to England and then I was making myself<br><br>220<br>00:16:31,840 --> 00:16:39,320<br>a Turkish coffee at home because I can't live without it and I never anywhere managed to<br><br>221<br>00:16:39,320 --> 00:16:44,360<br>find something that would be similar like that when we are talking about this commercial<br><br>222<br>00:16:44,360 --> 00:16:46,440<br>coffee shops in the UK.<br><br>223<br>00:16:46,440 --> 00:16:52,520<br>When it comes to food, to be quite honest, they're not eating healthy and that concerned<br><br>224<br>00:16:52,520 --> 00:16:56,560<br>me because I was like, okay, I don't want to be that student that's going to eat frozen<br><br>225<br>00:16:56,560 --> 00:17:01,160<br>food constantly, you know, frozen pizza and chicken nuggets and who's going to eat fast<br><br>226<br>00:17:01,160 --> 00:17:02,160<br>food and stuff like that.<br><br>227<br>00:17:02,160 --> 00:17:06,120<br>I'm not raised like that, you know, there's always needs to be some soup, you know, at<br><br>228<br>00:17:06,120 --> 00:17:09,720<br>least once or twice a week, mix it up a bit, you know.<br><br>229<br>00:17:09,720 --> 00:17:20,400<br>So actually I was very often I would cook for myself at home and I really was trying<br><br>230<br>00:17:20,400 --> 00:17:27,840<br>to be careful about what I'm eating because I didn't want to develop bad habits.<br><br>231<br>00:17:27,840 --> 00:17:29,360<br>The food is not amazing there.<br><br>232<br>00:17:29,360 --> 00:17:32,000<br>I need to say that it's not and I'm really sorry.<br><br>233<br>00:17:32,000 --> 00:17:33,640<br>I don't want to offend anyone.<br><br>234<br>00:17:33,640 --> 00:17:41,000<br>However, they do have perhaps in London, for example, plenty of restaurants and so many<br><br>235<br>00:17:41,000 --> 00:17:48,120<br>rich cultures where you can try Vietnamese, Vietnamese, you can try, you know, I don't<br><br>236<br>00:17:48,120 --> 00:17:53,680<br>know, even Croatian food, you can try Italian from all sorts of different countries.<br><br>237<br>00:17:53,680 --> 00:17:59,680<br>So you always have plenty of options and of course, plenty of greatest restaurants are<br><br>238<br>00:17:59,680 --> 00:18:00,680<br>in London.<br><br>239<br>00:18:00,680 --> 00:18:08,760<br>So I think that my answer is no, the food is not perhaps best in the UK.<br><br>240<br>00:18:08,760 --> 00:18:15,440<br>However, they do have plenty of different options where you can, you know, try out some<br><br>241<br>00:18:15,440 --> 00:18:16,440<br>great stuff.<br><br>242<br>00:18:16,440 --> 00:18:18,680<br>Yeah, I'm sure in London, it's a big city.<br><br>243<br>00:18:18,680 --> 00:18:21,320<br>There's plenty of, you know, diversity as far as food goes.<br><br>244<br>00:18:21,320 --> 00:18:23,840<br>Yes, definitely, definitely.<br><br>245<br>00:18:23,840 --> 00:18:29,840<br>I'm planning to go to the UK in March, fingers crossed to see my friends there.<br><br>246<br>00:18:29,840 --> 00:18:35,320<br>So like I'm just, you know, now thinking about some restaurants where I want to where I want<br><br>247<br>00:18:35,320 --> 00:18:39,000<br>to eat some food that we've perhaps had here in Croatia.<br><br>248<br>00:18:39,000 --> 00:18:40,320<br>Hmm, yeah, that's true.<br><br>249<br>00:18:40,320 --> 00:18:44,400<br>Although Zagreb is starting to get, I've noticed more and more restaurants from, you<br><br>250<br>00:18:44,400 --> 00:18:46,800<br>know, different diverse backgrounds.<br><br>251<br>00:18:46,800 --> 00:18:47,880<br>It is.<br><br>252<br>00:18:47,880 --> 00:18:49,840<br>And I'm completely thrilled about it.<br><br>253<br>00:18:49,840 --> 00:18:52,480<br>A couple of years.<br><br>254<br>00:18:52,480 --> 00:18:55,200<br>There once they there weren't so many.<br><br>255<br>00:18:55,200 --> 00:19:00,000<br>So sorry, it's my alarm for something.<br><br>256<br>00:19:00,000 --> 00:19:02,560<br>I'm just going to take it off.<br><br>257<br>00:19:02,560 --> 00:19:03,560<br>No worries.<br><br>258<br>00:19:03,560 --> 00:19:04,560<br>Are we short on time?<br><br>259<br>00:19:04,560 --> 00:19:06,800<br>No, no, no, I've got time.<br><br>260<br>00:19:06,800 --> 00:19:08,760<br>That's for something else just to remind you.<br><br>261<br>00:19:08,760 --> 00:19:14,000<br>Sometimes I put alarm to remind myself of the things that I actually need to do.<br><br>262<br>00:19:14,000 --> 00:19:17,240<br>Yeah, but where were we?<br><br>263<br>00:19:17,240 --> 00:19:21,720<br>I thought a couple of years ago the food in Zagreb restaurant.<br><br>264<br>00:19:21,720 --> 00:19:28,800<br>Yeah, so I'm completely thrilled that there are some great stuff to try here as well.<br><br>265<br>00:19:28,800 --> 00:19:30,440<br>Yeah, I agree.<br><br>266<br>00:19:30,440 --> 00:19:35,480<br>Well, I want to ask you about, you know, your career now, your reporter slash journalist<br><br>267<br>00:19:35,480 --> 00:19:37,640<br>for RTL.<br><br>268<br>00:19:37,640 --> 00:19:38,640<br>How did that happen?<br><br>269<br>00:19:38,640 --> 00:19:41,280<br>Did you major in journalism at university?<br><br>270<br>00:19:41,280 --> 00:19:42,280<br>Yeah.<br><br>271<br>00:19:42,280 --> 00:19:45,600<br>And then from there, it was multimedia journalism.<br><br>272<br>00:19:45,600 --> 00:19:51,960<br>And I need to say that I still I'm still in touch with my professors in the UK.<br><br>273<br>00:19:51,960 --> 00:19:57,720<br>And sometimes, you know, they ask me for something or ask them for something.<br><br>274<br>00:19:57,720 --> 00:20:03,560<br>And I just want to take this opportunity to say that, you know, they're they've done<br><br>275<br>00:20:03,560 --> 00:20:04,560<br>a great job.<br><br>276<br>00:20:04,560 --> 00:20:11,160<br>And the reason that I wanted to go and study multimedia journalism in the UK was and to<br><br>277<br>00:20:11,160 --> 00:20:15,520<br>study abroad because I know that their educational system is much different.<br><br>278<br>00:20:15,520 --> 00:20:21,840<br>And we had plenty of practical work, which I really appreciate today.<br><br>279<br>00:20:21,840 --> 00:20:30,120<br>And we weren't just, you know, students, they really try to approach to us as individuals.<br><br>280<br>00:20:30,120 --> 00:20:33,160<br>And we had small groups.<br><br>281<br>00:20:33,160 --> 00:20:41,600<br>So they were very, you know, they took time to to actually be devoted to us as individuals.<br><br>282<br>00:20:41,600 --> 00:20:48,280<br>And they did took a lot of care that I feel comfortable there knowing that I'm away from<br><br>283<br>00:20:48,280 --> 00:20:50,040<br>my friends and family.<br><br>284<br>00:20:50,040 --> 00:20:58,400<br>So just wanted to take this opportunity to to say to them that I didn't forget that.<br><br>285<br>00:20:58,400 --> 00:21:00,280<br>But yeah, I did major in journalism.<br><br>286<br>00:21:00,280 --> 00:21:05,720<br>And then you asked me how the RTL happened.<br><br>287<br>00:21:05,720 --> 00:21:13,640<br>I came back to creation and started to look for job and I applied to many different, many<br><br>288<br>00:21:13,640 --> 00:21:15,880<br>different jobs.<br><br>289<br>00:21:15,880 --> 00:21:23,760<br>And then the job opened at the RTL and I applied for that too.<br><br>290<br>00:21:23,760 --> 00:21:31,240<br>And I had an interview, few, few, few circles of interviews.<br><br>291<br>00:21:31,240 --> 00:21:34,360<br>And then I passed.<br><br>292<br>00:21:34,360 --> 00:21:36,360<br>Here I am now.<br><br>293<br>00:21:36,360 --> 00:21:39,280<br>What was your role at first coming on?<br><br>294<br>00:21:39,280 --> 00:21:43,320<br>I was my role was a journalist, but I started from scratch.<br><br>295<br>00:21:43,320 --> 00:21:46,200<br>So I was doing desk journalism.<br><br>296<br>00:21:46,200 --> 00:21:55,440<br>So I was kind of doing, we call it like, shorter news that are airing at 430.<br><br>297<br>00:21:55,440 --> 00:21:58,000<br>So I started from that.<br><br>298<br>00:21:58,000 --> 00:22:05,640<br>And after a while, I, you know, got an opportunity to to reports then live reporting.<br><br>299<br>00:22:05,640 --> 00:22:09,640<br>So I was kind of, I started from scratch and now building it up.<br><br>300<br>00:22:09,640 --> 00:22:11,320<br>So now what are your responsibilities?<br><br>301<br>00:22:11,320 --> 00:22:12,800<br>I know you're doing the live reporting.<br><br>302<br>00:22:12,800 --> 00:22:14,520<br>I've seen some of that.<br><br>303<br>00:22:14,520 --> 00:22:16,520<br>Are you writing articles as well?<br><br>304<br>00:22:16,520 --> 00:22:20,120<br>No, we don't write articles for television.<br><br>305<br>00:22:20,120 --> 00:22:31,080<br>However, I am also doing another job, which is I'm doing interviews with people who perhaps<br><br>306<br>00:22:31,080 --> 00:22:37,320<br>made some kind of difference in creation public space, like the actors or singers or architects<br><br>307<br>00:22:37,320 --> 00:22:41,280<br>or, you know, scientists or all sorts of different people.<br><br>308<br>00:22:41,280 --> 00:22:43,960<br>So I meet with them, I interviewed them.<br><br>309<br>00:22:43,960 --> 00:22:47,720<br>And then I write in write interviews down.<br><br>310<br>00:22:47,720 --> 00:22:53,160<br>So I am doing a bit of writing, but that's not for the RTL.<br><br>311<br>00:22:53,160 --> 00:22:56,640<br>In the, at the RTL, we don't do articles.<br><br>312<br>00:22:56,640 --> 00:23:01,280<br>We do reports, television reports and live reporting.<br><br>313<br>00:23:01,280 --> 00:23:04,200<br>And that the interviewing that you just mentioned, what is that for?<br><br>314<br>00:23:04,200 --> 00:23:08,360<br>Where can people listening find those articles that you're writing in the interviews?<br><br>315<br>00:23:08,360 --> 00:23:18,480<br>I'm talking about the HR.<br><br>316<br>00:23:18,480 --> 00:23:21,160<br>And took me a while to transition into my groggy mindset for a little bit.<br><br>317<br>00:23:21,160 --> 00:23:23,840<br>And I'll put a link to that so, you know, people can check that out.<br><br>318<br>00:23:23,840 --> 00:23:31,960<br>Whoever's listening, you have a favorite, perhaps live report for RTL that you've done?<br><br>319<br>00:23:31,960 --> 00:23:36,560<br>You know, sometimes people ask me what's my favorite thing that I've done?<br><br>320<br>00:23:36,560 --> 00:23:41,240<br>I don't know, really, there are plenty of things that I really enjoyed working on.<br><br>321<br>00:23:41,240 --> 00:23:49,400<br>What really makes me happy is be the person who does good stories and stories that are positive<br><br>322<br>00:23:49,400 --> 00:23:51,800<br>or have some positive outcome.<br><br>323<br>00:23:51,800 --> 00:23:56,320<br>I really enjoy doing culture, covering culture and covering, you know,<br><br>324<br>00:23:56,320 --> 00:24:03,360<br>happenings, whether that's music, theater or, you know, something like that.<br><br>325<br>00:24:03,360 --> 00:24:12,520<br>And, you know, stuff like that makes me perhaps the most happy when I'm doing things like that.<br><br>326<br>00:24:12,520 --> 00:24:22,080<br>When it comes to, you know, something that's my favorite, I really enjoyed perhaps traveling<br><br>327<br>00:24:22,080 --> 00:24:27,040<br>to Indonesia with the RTL, which happened a while ago, a couple of years ago.<br><br>328<br>00:24:27,040 --> 00:24:32,320<br>We've done some travel reports from there and that was like really good experience.<br><br>329<br>00:24:32,320 --> 00:24:37,360<br>We've done a lot of things, so it wasn't easy.<br><br>330<br>00:24:37,360 --> 00:24:45,520<br>It was like a very, very high tempo, but actually it was amazing.<br><br>331<br>00:24:45,520 --> 00:24:48,320<br>It was just to see that nature, to meet those people.<br><br>332<br>00:24:48,320 --> 00:24:52,920<br>I met some Croatians who moved to Indonesia, spoke with them.<br><br>333<br>00:24:52,920 --> 00:24:59,240<br>So that's something that I'll probably assert and we will remember for the rest of my life.<br><br>334<br>00:24:59,240 --> 00:25:02,800<br>And things like that, yeah.<br><br>335<br>00:25:02,800 --> 00:25:06,480<br>It's hard to just say, you know, this was the best.<br><br>336<br>00:25:06,480 --> 00:25:08,040<br>It's really hard.<br><br>337<br>00:25:08,040 --> 00:25:09,800<br>I know, I'm giving you tough questions here.<br><br>338<br>00:25:09,800 --> 00:25:11,400<br>Yes.<br><br>339<br>00:25:11,400 --> 00:25:15,840<br>I feel like you just mentioned, I feel like Croatians will always find a way to meet other Croatians,<br><br>340<br>00:25:15,840 --> 00:25:17,560<br>you know, throughout all the world, no matter.<br><br>341<br>00:25:17,560 --> 00:25:18,920<br>That's certain.<br><br>342<br>00:25:18,920 --> 00:25:19,560<br>That's for sure.<br><br>343<br>00:25:19,560 --> 00:25:25,400<br>Like, not just Croatian people from this area, whether it's from Bosnia or Serbia,<br><br>344<br>00:25:25,400 --> 00:25:30,200<br>like when I was in the UK, we used to have this thing where we,<br><br>345<br>00:25:30,200 --> 00:25:34,720<br>a couple of us from Croatia would meet, make ourselves Turkish coffee<br><br>346<br>00:25:34,720 --> 00:25:36,960<br>and then we would talk and hang out.<br><br>347<br>00:25:36,960 --> 00:25:42,320<br>And I met some pretty great people, Croatian people in the UK.<br><br>348<br>00:25:42,320 --> 00:25:45,880<br>And basically, I've met a friend.<br><br>349<br>00:25:45,880 --> 00:25:46,840<br>We are still in touch.<br><br>350<br>00:25:46,840 --> 00:25:47,920<br>He's from Serbia.<br><br>351<br>00:25:47,920 --> 00:25:49,480<br>He's living in the UK.<br><br>352<br>00:25:49,480 --> 00:25:54,560<br>So I think, and how we met is that we heard each other languages on the street.<br><br>353<br>00:25:54,560 --> 00:26:00,880<br>So I think that, you know, when we are abroad, we are so great to each other,<br><br>354<br>00:26:00,880 --> 00:26:05,000<br>no matter from which neighboring countries you're coming from.<br><br>355<br>00:26:05,000 --> 00:26:10,720<br>I'm just not sure why this is sometimes not happening when we are actually in our own countries,<br><br>356<br>00:26:10,720 --> 00:26:15,760<br>which is very sad, but hopefully those things are going to change as well.<br><br>357<br>00:26:15,760 --> 00:26:16,240<br>Yeah.<br><br>358<br>00:26:16,240 --> 00:26:18,720<br>Well, that's a topic for someone who knows more than I do.<br><br>359<br>00:26:18,720 --> 00:26:21,400<br>That's for sure.<br><br>360<br>00:26:21,400 --> 00:26:27,320<br>You mentioned, you know, you like positive and cultural type projects.<br><br>361<br>00:26:27,320 --> 00:26:32,640<br>You know, I want to talk about Strahmnac and Hrvatskoje, which is a foreigner in Croatia.<br><br>362<br>00:26:32,640 --> 00:26:33,480<br>Yeah.<br><br>363<br>00:26:33,480 --> 00:26:34,440<br>Yeah, no, yeah.<br><br>364<br>00:26:34,440 --> 00:26:37,360<br>That would be a literal translation and it would be right.<br><br>365<br>00:26:37,360 --> 00:26:38,320<br>Yeah.<br><br>366<br>00:26:38,320 --> 00:26:38,960<br>When did you come?<br><br>367<br>00:26:38,960 --> 00:26:40,560<br>How did you come up with that and when?<br><br>368<br>00:26:40,560 --> 00:26:44,000<br>And, you know, what is it about?<br><br>369<br>00:26:44,000 --> 00:26:48,840<br>So basically, when I moved back to Croatia,<br><br>370<br>00:26:48,840 --> 00:26:57,600<br>I kind of realized that there are many foreigners that moved to Croatia as well.<br><br>371<br>00:26:57,600 --> 00:27:03,800<br>Croatia didn't have so many people from abroad living in Croatia before.<br><br>372<br>00:27:03,800 --> 00:27:08,640<br>And I kind of felt that when we entered the European Union, that changed.<br><br>373<br>00:27:08,640 --> 00:27:11,960<br>And that was the time where I actually went to UK.<br><br>374<br>00:27:11,960 --> 00:27:17,480<br>So when I was, I felt like when I was in the UK, people just moved to Croatia.<br><br>375<br>00:27:17,480 --> 00:27:23,560<br>And then I came back from Croatia and I realized when I went back to Croatia and I realized,<br><br>376<br>00:27:23,560 --> 00:27:27,400<br>OK, you know, there are people from abroad living in Croatia as well.<br><br>377<br>00:27:27,400 --> 00:27:35,720<br>So I met a couple of them and there are some meetups for foreigners who decided to move to Croatia<br><br>378<br>00:27:35,720 --> 00:27:43,880<br>or Croatia and Diaspora moving to Croatia or Croatia's who moved abroad and now came back to Croatia.<br><br>379<br>00:27:43,880 --> 00:27:47,160<br>They are called International Business Meetup Club.<br><br>380<br>00:27:47,160 --> 00:27:54,080<br>So I actually, it's an informal, informal hanging out, just, you know,<br><br>381<br>00:27:54,080 --> 00:27:57,680<br>networking and talking about stuff you want to talk about.<br><br>382<br>00:27:57,680 --> 00:28:03,360<br>And I went on a couple of those meetings and I realized, you know,<br><br>383<br>00:28:03,360 --> 00:28:07,920<br>that there are plenty of interesting people around me with many of interesting stories.<br><br>384<br>00:28:07,920 --> 00:28:13,440<br>So this is where I actually kind of realized after a while that it would be interesting<br><br>385<br>00:28:13,440 --> 00:28:20,240<br>to make reports about people who moved here to hear their stories and what they like to share.<br><br>386<br>00:28:20,240 --> 00:28:24,000<br>And I always wanted that to be something positive.<br><br>387<br>00:28:24,000 --> 00:28:30,800<br>Like I wanted people from Croatia to meet those people and hear what are their problems<br><br>388<br>00:28:30,800 --> 00:28:37,880<br>and how do they find us and, you know, what are they are struggling the most with.<br><br>389<br>00:28:37,880 --> 00:28:41,720<br>And I wanted it to be like perhaps a bit educational,<br><br>390<br>00:28:41,720 --> 00:28:44,600<br>but also informal and fun and positive.<br><br>391<br>00:28:44,600 --> 00:28:47,280<br>And so I've done that project.<br><br>392<br>00:28:47,280 --> 00:28:57,640<br>That project was aired last year for around eight months, every Friday on RTL Dana, so on our main news.<br><br>393<br>00:28:57,640 --> 00:29:01,920<br>I'm actually very proud how that all turned out to be.<br><br>394<br>00:29:01,920 --> 00:29:10,200<br>We had almost million, no, more than a million, around a million views on social media<br><br>395<br>00:29:10,200 --> 00:29:13,000<br>when you look at all of those reports.<br><br>396<br>00:29:13,000 --> 00:29:21,400<br>So I think that those numbers actually show me that people were interested to see and hear different stories<br><br>397<br>00:29:21,400 --> 00:29:24,320<br>from foreigners who decided to move to Croatia.<br><br>398<br>00:29:24,320 --> 00:29:29,600<br>And I've met so many interesting people with interesting stories.<br><br>399<br>00:29:29,600 --> 00:29:35,960<br>And I'm very grateful that they actually all, I don't think that anyone refused me.<br><br>400<br>00:29:35,960 --> 00:29:41,360<br>Perhaps, I don't know, one, two, three people perhaps refused to share their story with me,<br><br>401<br>00:29:41,360 --> 00:29:44,000<br>but they were all very open-minded.<br><br>402<br>00:29:44,000 --> 00:29:48,680<br>And I'm very grateful they let me into their homes, their businesses,<br><br>403<br>00:29:48,680 --> 00:29:54,400<br>and to, with an open heart, tell me why they are here.<br><br>404<br>00:29:54,400 --> 00:30:01,160<br>And those were the stories for me that actually reminded me why Croatia is a beautiful country.<br><br>405<br>00:30:01,160 --> 00:30:08,240<br>Because foreigners see the things that we sometimes take for granted.<br><br>406<br>00:30:08,240 --> 00:30:11,560<br>And those are perhaps the reasons why they moved here,<br><br>407<br>00:30:11,560 --> 00:30:16,440<br>because the country is safe, because the weather is nice, because the people are nice,<br><br>408<br>00:30:16,440 --> 00:30:19,960<br>because the food is awesome, because the nature is beautiful,<br><br>409<br>00:30:19,960 --> 00:30:22,800<br>and there are so many things that you can do here.<br><br>410<br>00:30:22,800 --> 00:30:26,280<br>And also, it's so well connected with the rest of the world.<br><br>411<br>00:30:26,280 --> 00:30:29,760<br>So I think they reminded me why Croatia is beautiful.<br><br>412<br>00:30:29,760 --> 00:30:34,240<br>And I really hope that those stories inspired somebody.<br><br>413<br>00:30:34,240 --> 00:30:37,440<br>Because at times, they certainly inspired me.<br><br>414<br>00:30:37,440 --> 00:30:41,440<br>I really think it's a great thing what you're doing, and I'm really a big fan of it.<br><br>415<br>00:30:41,440 --> 00:30:45,480<br>Have you, did you receive sort of any common answers, you know,<br><br>416<br>00:30:45,480 --> 00:30:48,280<br>in these questions that they're asking, that you're asking them, you know,<br><br>417<br>00:30:48,280 --> 00:30:54,440<br>as to why did they come to Croatia and why did, do they like it?<br><br>418<br>00:30:54,440 --> 00:30:59,760<br>Everyone said that, almost everyone said that people are great,<br><br>419<br>00:30:59,760 --> 00:31:03,760<br>and almost everyone said that the streets are safe,<br><br>420<br>00:31:03,760 --> 00:31:09,240<br>and that the country is beautiful, everyone mentioned nature.<br><br>421<br>00:31:09,240 --> 00:31:15,200<br>But there are some common problems that bother them, and these are bureaucracy,<br><br>422<br>00:31:15,200 --> 00:31:20,760<br>and language that they all consider to be very hard.<br><br>423<br>00:31:20,760 --> 00:31:22,400<br>So what else?<br><br>424<br>00:31:22,400 --> 00:31:29,400<br>I think those two things were actually something that they were repeating the most.<br><br>425<br>00:31:29,400 --> 00:31:31,920<br>Yeah, I agree that the language is tough.<br><br>426<br>00:31:31,920 --> 00:31:33,960<br>I'm learning myself Croatian.<br><br>427<br>00:31:33,960 --> 00:31:37,960<br>And when you mentioned earlier in the beginning that you were spending a lot of time in Zagoria,<br><br>428<br>00:31:37,960 --> 00:31:42,000<br>first thing I thought it was, oh, like I wouldn't be able to understand anything over there.<br><br>429<br>00:31:42,000 --> 00:31:44,960<br>I can understand that.<br><br>430<br>00:31:44,960 --> 00:31:48,600<br>Well, Croatian language is a hard language.<br><br>431<br>00:31:48,600 --> 00:31:49,880<br>It's really a hard language.<br><br>432<br>00:31:49,880 --> 00:31:54,840<br>And sometimes when I would ask people whether they want to be interviewed in Croatian or in English,<br><br>433<br>00:31:54,840 --> 00:31:57,240<br>they would say, oh, can we please do it in English?<br><br>434<br>00:31:57,240 --> 00:31:59,200<br>My Croatian is very bad.<br><br>435<br>00:31:59,200 --> 00:32:03,960<br>But sometimes they would say a sentence or two or three in Croatian,<br><br>436<br>00:32:03,960 --> 00:32:07,360<br>and then I would really appreciate the effort they're making.<br><br>437<br>00:32:07,360 --> 00:32:12,400<br>So I know it takes a lot of time, and we all understand that.<br><br>438<br>00:32:12,400 --> 00:32:15,440<br>However, it's always nice to hear somebody trying.<br><br>439<br>00:32:15,440 --> 00:32:20,480<br>But if you can't speak any Croatian, that's completely fine with us as well,<br><br>440<br>00:32:20,480 --> 00:32:25,320<br>because I think that the majority of Croatian people are OK with English.<br><br>441<br>00:32:25,320 --> 00:32:28,840<br>They speak English or understand English at least.<br><br>442<br>00:32:28,840 --> 00:32:33,960<br>I think it might even be one of the highest in Europe of English literacy levels.<br><br>443<br>00:32:33,960 --> 00:32:37,480<br>I think Croatian has a very high English-speaking population.<br><br>444<br>00:32:37,480 --> 00:32:38,160<br>But yeah, they do.<br><br>445<br>00:32:38,160 --> 00:32:42,520<br>Croatians do always appreciate my personal experience when you try to speak Croatian,<br><br>446<br>00:32:42,520 --> 00:32:45,760<br>even though I know I'm messing up all the Pátegí and everything.<br><br>447<br>00:32:45,760 --> 00:32:48,480<br>Pátegí are awful, even for us.<br><br>448<br>00:32:48,480 --> 00:32:54,560<br>But yeah, the Stranac or Hrvatskoe, where can people find that?<br><br>449<br>00:32:54,560 --> 00:32:56,480<br>That's a really cool thing that you're doing.<br><br>450<br>00:32:56,480 --> 00:33:00,960<br>And I think a lot of people listening would be interested in hearing some of the stories of these people.<br><br>451<br>00:33:00,960 --> 00:33:04,320<br>You said that's on Arteo Daneš?<br><br>452<br>00:33:04,320 --> 00:33:08,360<br>Yeah, so it was aired last year.<br><br>453<br>00:33:08,360 --> 00:33:10,960<br>Now we took a little break from that.<br><br>454<br>00:33:10,960 --> 00:33:24,480<br>However, you can still find the reports that I've done before on some of our social media and on our website.<br><br>455<br>00:33:24,480 --> 00:33:29,880<br>So if anyone interested, I can send you the links.<br><br>456<br>00:33:29,880 --> 00:33:34,560<br>Message me on Instagram or somewhere, and I will be happy to share you some links.<br><br>457<br>00:33:34,560 --> 00:33:38,720<br>Yes, and I'll include all the links that you would like in the episode description,<br><br>458<br>00:33:38,720 --> 00:33:41,560<br>so people who are listening can click on those.<br><br>459<br>00:33:41,560 --> 00:33:47,640<br>Ida, before I let you go, I think I went a little over time when I told you this was going to be...<br><br>460<br>00:33:47,640 --> 00:33:49,840<br>No, it's fine. It's completely fine.<br><br>461<br>00:33:49,840 --> 00:33:54,520<br>Because I know that I can talk a lot, so maybe I actually went over time.<br><br>462<br>00:33:54,520 --> 00:34:00,200<br>It's all great stuff, though. All really interesting stories and what you're doing is really cool.<br><br>463<br>00:34:00,200 --> 00:34:04,280<br>What do you have as far as future plans?<br><br>464<br>00:34:04,280 --> 00:34:10,680<br>I want to still be very focused on my job. That's my priority at the moment.<br><br>465<br>00:34:10,680 --> 00:34:14,880<br>But I've always been like that. I just really like to keep myself busy.<br><br>466<br>00:34:14,880 --> 00:34:24,920<br>And especially if I'm doing things that I enjoy, I just really want to be able to put myself out there completely.<br><br>467<br>00:34:24,920 --> 00:34:27,600<br>So I want to continue to building my career.<br><br>468<br>00:34:27,600 --> 00:34:34,160<br>I think that there are perhaps... I really hope there are some great stuff ahead of me.<br><br>469<br>00:34:34,160 --> 00:34:41,120<br>Hopefully some great projects in the future. Some new, perhaps serious, like,<br><br>470<br>00:34:41,120 --> 00:34:44,440<br>Foreigner in Croatia. Perhaps something like that or something different.<br><br>471<br>00:34:44,440 --> 00:34:49,720<br>I don't know. I really want to be focused on my career and I want to be focused on my friends and family.<br><br>472<br>00:34:49,720 --> 00:35:00,560<br>And just spending my time with them and also taking every free time that I have to be able to go and travel somewhere.<br><br>473<br>00:35:00,560 --> 00:35:06,200<br>I love traveling, but I just sometimes don't have enough time.<br><br>474<br>00:35:06,200 --> 00:35:19,840<br>And also the coronavirus kind of as well, as well, did perhaps messed up the tempo of traveling that I used to perhaps had.<br><br>475<br>00:35:19,840 --> 00:35:23,480<br>But I think it was for all of us. It was quite stressful.<br><br>476<br>00:35:23,480 --> 00:35:34,200<br>So yeah, these are my plans. Nothing really very exciting. Just normal stuff.<br><br>477<br>00:35:34,200 --> 00:35:38,760<br>Yeah, if you're continuing what you're doing now, I mean, it's all exciting because what you're doing now is exciting.<br><br>478<br>00:35:38,760 --> 00:35:40,320<br>You're doing some really cool stuff.<br><br>479<br>00:35:40,320 --> 00:35:44,800<br>And I really appreciate you coming on the All Things Croatia podcast here.<br><br>480<br>00:35:44,800 --> 00:35:50,720<br>And yeah, I wish you the best of luck and excited to see what you do in the future.<br><br>481<br>00:35:50,720 --> 00:35:54,880<br>Thank you very much. I really appreciate your kind words and thank you for inviting me.<br><br>