By Honorary Reporter Monthi Rosselini from Indonesia

Illustrations = Monthi Rosselini

To commemorate its 50th anniversary this year, the Korean Culture and Information Service (KOCIS) has prepared events that people can take part in from anywhere in the world. I participated by doing the following three activities.

I decorated a KOCIS birthday cake.

I ordered a DIY cake decoration kit from a store in my town. Once it arrived, I started decorating it with my daughter. We had lots of fun, especially when we drew the KOCIS mascot Kocnuni as it turned out cute.

My daughter and I had fun decorating a cake to mark KOCIS' 50th birthday.

Kocnuni is a long-tailed tit (bird) and got its name from the first three letters of "KOCIS" and from the Korean onomatopoeia koc, which means "poking" or "pointing." As the official mascot of KOCIS, Kocnuni is tasked with raising awareness of and sharing information on Korea to the world.

An illustration contest for the mascot is another event marking KOCIS' half-century of existence.

One event I participated in was a Kocnuni illustration contest, which ends on Dec. 17. Since we can submit more than one work, I submitted three. Many beautiful renditions of Kocnuni have been submitted not only by Koreans but also others from around the world.

"Visit Korea World" is a metaverse exhibition and part of KOCIS' 50th birthday celebrations.

"Visit Korea World" is one of the best platforms for taking part in the KOCIS celebrations virtually. The metaverse exhibition hall features the works of the Talk Talk Korea contest winners and K-influencers. People can also customize their own avatars, chat with each other, and try on costumes and traditional Korean accessories.

Check KOCIS' social media platform to learn more about online events.

Finally, the second K-healing ON Festival on Dec. 16 is a year-end event to be aired live on Arirang TV and YouTube. Geared toward K-influencers, Honorary Reporters and contestants in the 2021 Talk Talk Korea contest, the festival will have activities and performances by K-pop acts LOONA and Minzy in the K-pop category and Park Aeri and Poppin Hyun Joon in the gugak (traditional Korean music) category.

enny0611@korea.kr

*This article is written by a Korea.net Honorary Reporter. Our group of Honorary Reporters are from all around the world, and they share with Korea.net their love and passion for all things Korean.