Post by Caslav Klonimirovic on Mar 13, 2012 8:15:07 GMT -5
setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/features/2011/07/14/feature-05
Frenchman rebrands Serbia's image
14/07/2011
Karl Haudbourg left his native France for Serbia, where he now lives and works to change the negative image of Serbia in the world.
By Igor Jovanovic for Southeast European Times in Belgrade – 14/07/11
Karl Haudbourg and daughter Luna at home in Serbia. [Igor Jovanovic/SETimes]
While scores of Serbs dream of leaving their country for a better future in Western Europe or the US, one Frenchman exchanged his native Paris for the noisy Belgrade quarter of Zeleni Venac.
Every day for the past two years, Karl Haudbourg has taken a walk around Belgrade's medieval Kalemegdan fortress. When the weather is nice, his eight-year-old daughter Luna races far ahead of him on her little scooter.
"People in France know little about Serbia, and mostly negative stories from the time of the conflict. I'm not trying to improve Serbia's image by writing something imaginary, but rather present the truth about what I see in Belgrade, about the Serbs," Houdbourg told SETimes.
His website has several thousand hits a day. He says most visitors are from the US, 30% from Serbia, while the rest from Russia and EU countries.
Haudbourg says he has had to respond to numerous prejudices about the Serbs.
"People frequently ask me whether it's safe to come to Belgrade, whether the war is over and what they should see if they come to Belgrade. I've also had to answer bizarre questions; some asked me whether we have electricity and the internet in Serbia, whether chocolate could be bought in stores and whether the Serbs bred cows. Only after those questions did I realise how long I would have to work on changing the image of Serbia. But if I didn't think it could be changed, I wouldn't have started this in the first place," he says.
Haudbourg moved to Belgrade with his daughter in 2009. He launched the Serbian Ambassador to the World website (http://www.ambassador-serbia.com) and a Facebook group dubbed Beautiful Serbia, now counting more than 30,000 friends.
"When my wife died of cancer in 2008, I decided to dedicate my life to fighting for something I truly love. I simply love Serbia and I chose to fight for it," says Haudbourg.
He says he fell in love with Serbia in 2002 after watching a documentary on French television. Three years later he had a chance to visit Belgrade.
"When departing for Serbia, my friends asked whether I was out of my mind and what I would do there. But as soon as I arrived in Belgrade, I felt it was a city I want to live in. I had this strange feeling that I had lived in Belgrade in a past life, I've never got lost here," Haudbourg said.
Belgrade journalist Mirjana Pantic says that his story is unusual and that "it is difficult for people in Serbia to comprehend that someone from abroad moved to Serbia because he had grown to love it. We're used to people falling in love with the United States or France, and deciding to stay and live there, but certainly not Serbia. Perhaps we ourselves lack a good opinion of the country we live in," she told SETimes.
Belgrade science fiction writer Jovan Ristic says he respects Haudbourg's work.
"He alone, however, will not be able to change the perceptions of the Serbs, unless the state realizes it has to back his efforts and add numerous other activities to them, our image will remain predominantly negative for a long time," he told SETimes.
This content was commissioned for SETimes.com.
Frenchman rebrands Serbia's image
14/07/2011
Karl Haudbourg left his native France for Serbia, where he now lives and works to change the negative image of Serbia in the world.
By Igor Jovanovic for Southeast European Times in Belgrade – 14/07/11
Karl Haudbourg and daughter Luna at home in Serbia. [Igor Jovanovic/SETimes]
While scores of Serbs dream of leaving their country for a better future in Western Europe or the US, one Frenchman exchanged his native Paris for the noisy Belgrade quarter of Zeleni Venac.
Every day for the past two years, Karl Haudbourg has taken a walk around Belgrade's medieval Kalemegdan fortress. When the weather is nice, his eight-year-old daughter Luna races far ahead of him on her little scooter.
"People in France know little about Serbia, and mostly negative stories from the time of the conflict. I'm not trying to improve Serbia's image by writing something imaginary, but rather present the truth about what I see in Belgrade, about the Serbs," Houdbourg told SETimes.
His website has several thousand hits a day. He says most visitors are from the US, 30% from Serbia, while the rest from Russia and EU countries.
Haudbourg says he has had to respond to numerous prejudices about the Serbs.
"People frequently ask me whether it's safe to come to Belgrade, whether the war is over and what they should see if they come to Belgrade. I've also had to answer bizarre questions; some asked me whether we have electricity and the internet in Serbia, whether chocolate could be bought in stores and whether the Serbs bred cows. Only after those questions did I realise how long I would have to work on changing the image of Serbia. But if I didn't think it could be changed, I wouldn't have started this in the first place," he says.
Haudbourg moved to Belgrade with his daughter in 2009. He launched the Serbian Ambassador to the World website (http://www.ambassador-serbia.com) and a Facebook group dubbed Beautiful Serbia, now counting more than 30,000 friends.
"When my wife died of cancer in 2008, I decided to dedicate my life to fighting for something I truly love. I simply love Serbia and I chose to fight for it," says Haudbourg.
He says he fell in love with Serbia in 2002 after watching a documentary on French television. Three years later he had a chance to visit Belgrade.
"When departing for Serbia, my friends asked whether I was out of my mind and what I would do there. But as soon as I arrived in Belgrade, I felt it was a city I want to live in. I had this strange feeling that I had lived in Belgrade in a past life, I've never got lost here," Haudbourg said.
Belgrade journalist Mirjana Pantic says that his story is unusual and that "it is difficult for people in Serbia to comprehend that someone from abroad moved to Serbia because he had grown to love it. We're used to people falling in love with the United States or France, and deciding to stay and live there, but certainly not Serbia. Perhaps we ourselves lack a good opinion of the country we live in," she told SETimes.
Belgrade science fiction writer Jovan Ristic says he respects Haudbourg's work.
"He alone, however, will not be able to change the perceptions of the Serbs, unless the state realizes it has to back his efforts and add numerous other activities to them, our image will remain predominantly negative for a long time," he told SETimes.
This content was commissioned for SETimes.com.