Beyond

Last November, I was lucky enough to be in London at the time of the 400th anniversary of Bonfire Night.

The reason why the British celebrate Bonfire Night is because 400 years ago there were some traitors who tried to burn the parliament to kill the king. Unfortunately, they failed and were caught. In order to celebrate that their king lived through it, the citizens let off wonderful fireworks on that day every year. But some people say they’re celebrating the bravery of the traitors.

Our friend invited me to a park to see the fireworks display which was the biggest one in London. I was so excited about seeing the fireworks because the tradition has lasted for 400 years, and 400 years is most of Taiwanese history. It’s amazing!

When we got there, there were thousands of people already there and we needed to pay nearly 500 NT per person to get into the park. Wow, it was pretty expensive, but I thought it might be worth it because it was the biggest fireworks display in London and this year was the 400th anniversary.

Well, the fireworks started with an enormous explosion. After that, there were all kinds of fireworks and they harmonized with classical music. The fireworks almost completely lit up the dark sky. It was really fantastic. After 20 minutes, there was a pause in the fireworks. Well, I thought it maybe was like opera, where there are several breaks or intermissions. Surprising enough, I was wrong! The fireworks had finished! The audience started to leave!

I couldn’t believe it! I was so frustrated! I spent 500 NT but I just saw a 20 minute fireworks display. Although it was really stunning, it was too short to satisfy me. What’s more, in Taiwan, we can see free fireworks every October. And they’re just as good as the ones I saw in London!

I was thinking about this the whole night. Was it a cultural difference? Or was I too greedy?

Further study: http://www.bonefire.org/guy/