Tag: fireworks

Top Posts from 2019

Well, it is the end of another year, and this one has seen some really exciting changes in my life. I moved from South Korea to Thailand. I took two voyages back to the United States, one in the beginning of the year, and one during the summer break to get everything in order for the move. I got to visit Japan during the Sakura festivals and see what the hype was all about, and I got to fulfill a long dream of mine of spending Christmas in Germany. It has been an exciting year full of highs and lows, and I want to thank all of you for being along for the ride. I thought I would take the time to go through the posts that you enjoyed the most this year and list them in order according to their popularity.

#10 – Cherry Blossoms in Our Winter

This is the first poem to make this list, and it is actually one of my favorite poems that I have written. It really captured the moment that I witnessed during my trip to Tokyo, and I think showed why the Sakura Festival is so important to all of the people who live there,

https://johncollings.com/2019/04/21/cherry-blossoms-in-our-winter/

#9 – Being Indiana Jones – Hua Hin, Thailand

Even though this experience was more of a day trip from Hau Hin, it was still close enough to the place where I set up my base to include it in this area of Thailand. I had a lot of fun on this first trip out of Bangkok, getting to explore the country a little more, and it just showed me what little treasures I could find as long as I took the time to find it.

https://johncollings.com/2019/10/13/being-indiana-jones-hua-hin-thailand/

#8 – The Journey to Ring in the New Year – The Holidays Day 13

This was actually the first post I had during the 2019 year, and it told of the story of the struggle I had making it to my brother’s house for the New Year’s Eve celebration. Snow can be a beautiful thing, but not if you have to travel through it dumping down out of the sky on a holiday night known for people drinking too much and taking unnecessary risks.

https://johncollings.com/2019/01/01/the-journey-to-ring-in-the-new-year-the-holidays-day-13/

#7 – How is This Not a Thing – Itaewon Day 2

I had many unique experiences during my time living in South Korea, but one of the most unique experiences was being sat down in an enclosure with a bunch of meerkats in a cafe in the middle of downtown Seoul. The Meerkat Friends has been in operation for over a decade and it is easy to see why so many people enjoyed a post about cuddling with a bunch of the furry creature.

https://johncollings.com/2019/02/03/how-is-this-not-a-thing-itaewon-day-2/

#6 – Massive Explosions – The Move Day 15

Only one thing can beat cute, furry creatures, and that is blowing things up. It is kind of a tradition in the United States anymore, and it is always a fun to be able to spend it with my family. I was especially impressed with the creativity that went behind some of the fireworks, and I am also impressed with how big, and loud they have gotten over the years.

https://johncollings.com/2019/07/05/massive-explosions-the-move-day-15/

#5 – Ice Cream Asian Style – Back to Japan Day 1

Who knew a pair of chopsticks and a small cup of Hagen Das would have been so intriguing? It was another one of my posts inspired by my trip to Japan and this was even before we were able to experience the sakura. Funny thing about this post was we found a small little spoon in our bag from the store after we finished eating our ice cream.

https://johncollings.com/2019/03/23/ice-cream-asian-style-back-to-japan-day-1/

#4 – You Can’t Go Back to the Green – The Holidays Day 20

I am always surprised by what posts connect with people and which ones do not. This post was supposed to be a throw away about a day at I had to spend on campus of my old college getting some paperwork taken care of, but for some reason, people kept coming back to it over the year. I guess they feel the same way about that lyric to that Billy Joel song that I do.

https://johncollings.com/2019/01/09/you-cant-go-back-to-the-green-the-holidays-day-20/

#3 – The Legacy – The Move Day 1

This was my final farewell to a country that I had lived in for four years. It was a bittersweet departure. During my years at the school, there was a lot of talk about “Leaving a Legacy” behind, and this was my response to that idea while saying goodbye to all of the people that I had met and grew with during my time there.

https://johncollings.com/2019/06/20/the-legacy-the-move-day-1/

#2 Downtown Bangkok

Making the move to Bangkok has given me an opportunity to explore a new corner of the world, and the city of Bangkok has so much to offer that it might take a couple of years to get to it all. This was my first attempt at making a dent into seeing what this city is all about, and I am sure there will be many more to follow.

https://johncollings.com/2019/08/12/downtown-bangkok/

#1 – The Arrival- The Move Final Day

There is nothing like moving into a new place. It is full of excitement and potential, but the only way I could share this moment with my family and friends was to write this post about it. The amount of people checking into it was almost like having a house warming party except I had not quite unpacked yet. It was still fun to show everybody the interesting artwork that was found in my bathroom. He has got a name now too, Smoke.

https://johncollings.com/2019/07/30/the-arrival-the-move-final-day/

Honorable Mention – Bend Sucks! Move Somewhere Else – Around the World Day 39

When I published my first book, I was told that you would never know what would take off, and what would die in obscurity. This post has found a life of its own. There is hardly a week that goes by when I do not have a person look at this post about a funny bumper sticker I saw while in Bend, Oregon a couple of years ago. It has turned into the most widely read piece I have ever written, and I am interested to see if it continues to make a presence in the coming year.

https://johncollings.com/2018/07/25/bend-sucks-move-somewhere-else-around-the-world-day-39/

Thank you for visiting me site this past year, and I look forward to seeing more of you next year.

 

Massive Explosions – The Move Day 15

Well, it has come and gone, the day where Americans get together to blow things up.

Happy Independence Day, the 4th of July.

Many countries celebrate their own Independence Days, but only in America is there the noise and light show that comes along with it. And being a world traveler, being outside the United States on this date does not mean as much as it does to be here. It is that fireworks display that makes this holiday so much fun.

Growing up in Colorado, the fireworks display was never guaranteed. There were many years where it was just too dry and any fire might cause a disaster that would burn whole neighborhoods to the ground. So when the year was wet enough to allow for a fireworks, we had a tendency to go a little overboard with it, and this year was no exception. Colorado has experienced an exceptional amount of snow this winter which had rolled right into the summer as the rains continue to pound the Front Range. In fact, yesterday, there were many times that we had to run inside to avoid getting wet because there was a series of storms that continued to roll through. It made for some spectacular light displays from nature, but extended the time we were shooting off fireworks.

Fireworks have also gotten a little ruder. Before they had names like Lotus Flower, or Emerald Dragon, but this year we were able to experience the Big Balls, and the Pooping Puppy. The ones that we got to watch during the day were pretty explicit with the Pooping Puppy being my favorite. It basically combined the snake fireworks that quickly bored us as children with a quick spurt of flame that gave the explosive effects of dog wolfing down a spicy burrito the day before.

The Big Balls were also a big favorite, but were seriously dangerous. Basically after a short fuse, they would explode in a huge display of bright sparkles that covered the whole road. Anybody that found themselves in the explosion would have sustained some type of injury that would have required a quick emergency room visit. I tried to take a picture of the explosion, but it happened too quickly and looked nothing more than a bright sun when the exposure finally happened, so it was one of those fireworks that had to be written down in memory, and you would just have to wait until next year if you wanted to see the explosion again.

That is if they are legal next year. I could see a bunch of people coming into hospitals this year with lost hands and feet that may make lawmakers reconsider whether this is the type of firework that they want to keep around.

But that is part of the fun of fireworks. There is a little bit of risks that make them more exciting than just the explosion that comes at the end of the fuse. It creates excitement every year for when that sun goes down that everybody can go out a celebrate the day that we as American declared out independence. It is those explosions that make the holiday and memorable moment every year, and I am glad that the rain held off long enough this year so I could enjoy it in this own special way.