9 Stories That Brought Us Joy In 2022
With plenty of bad news out there, it can be easy to miss the good stuff.
With plenty of bad news out there, it can be easy to miss the good stuff.
As 2022 comes to an end, relive the moments that brought us laughter throughout the year.
1. South Korea Held A “Space Out” Competition Where People Competed To Be The Most Zoned Out
Dozens of people in Seoul, South Korea, took part in a “Space Out” Competition on Sunday Sep. 18, where they sat for 90 minutes without doing anything.
Participants are required to sit without talking, sleeping, eating or using any electronic devices for 90 minutes.
The competition is a performance arts event that encourages people who live in the city to do nothing and take a break from the stress of everyday life.
2. New Zealand’s Prime Minister Went To Japan And Was Welcomed By Two Giant Dancing Kiwifruit Mascots
On her first overseas trip since the pandemic began, New Zealand’s prime minister Jacinda Ardern was welcomed in Japan by two giant dancing kiwifruit mascots.
Ardern’s first official stop on her trip was an event by New Zealand kiwifruit marketer Zespri to mark the annual kiwifruit sales season in Japan.
The event included an incredible performance involving Zespri’s two giant kiwifruit mascots in Japan, the Kiwi Brothers, swaying to a famous Japanese song.
3. This Philippine Professor Asked Her Students To Make “Anti-Cheating” Hats For An Exam And They Really Delivered
Two days before an exam, Mary Joy Mandane-Ortiz, a mechanical engineering professor at Bicol University College of Engineering in the Philippineswas scrolling Facebook and saw some photos of “anti-cheating hats” that stopped students from looking at other people’s work, so she decided to ask her student to do the same, she told Almost.
She asked her students to make a “simple” design out of paper, and they accepted the task without any complaints, she said.
On the day of the mid-term exam on the third week of October, the students turned up wearing all sorts of funny and creative contraptions on their heads.
They truly went above and beyond.
4. Australian Firefighters Posed With Animals For A Charity Calendar And It’s Too Hot To Handle
Australian firefighters have posed for their popular annual charity calendar’s 30th edition, and the photos are too hot to handle.
Every year, new versions are released, but a total of six editions were produced this year for the 30th anniversary, with an all-new denim edition.
Four of the editions feature firefighters posing with a range of animals such as horses, dogs, cats and a variety of wildlife animals from local refuges that the organization supports.
Since the start of the project 30 years ago in 1993, the calendar project has raised more than 3.2 million dollars and helped support a range of Australian and international charities from animal conservation to medical research.
5. An Unrefrigerated Iceberg Lettuce Outlasted UK Prime Minister Liz Truss And It Became A Huge Meme
On Oct. 14, as political and economic instability threatened Liz Truss’s position as prime minister of the UK, British newspaper Daily Star decided to put the question “Will Liz Truss still be Prime Minister within the 10 day shelf-life of a lettuce?” to the test.
Inspired by a column in the Economist, which described Truss as having “the shelf-life of a lettuce”, the Daily Star set up a livestream to test the statement.
The newspaper bought a £0.60 (US$0.68) iceberg lettuce at a local grocery store, gave it a blonde wig and googly eyes and placed it unrefrigerated next to a clock and the British flag.
On Thursday, the public got their answer, with the lettuce emerging victorious as Truss announced her resignation in a speech in front of 10 Downing Street, making her the shortest serving prime minister in the country’s history.
People on social media did not hesitate to congratulate the lettuce.
6. This South Korean Soccer Player Who Scored Two Goals At The World Cup Is So Handsome People Can’t Handle It
The World Cup has got its newest heartthrob, and it’s South Korean striker Cho Gue-sung, who has been making waves on social media for being extremely handsome.
Fan cams and photos of the charismatic No. 9 have gone viral after he scored South Korea’s two goals in the match against Ghana on Monday Nov. 28.
A fancam video that shows Cho sitting on the sidelines with his arms crossed then rubbing his cheek has garnered more than 8.3 million views on Twitter.
The 24-year-old’s Instagram account has catapulted from 20,000 followers at the beginning of the World Cup to more than 2.3 million fans as of Sunday Dec. 4.
Cho reportedly had to turn off his phone from the multitude of notifications and messages he was getting.
7. An Ancient “Killing Stone” In Japan Said To Contain An Evil Fox Spirit Has Split In Half
A legendary stone in Japan said to contain an evil fox spirit has split in half.
According to Japanese mythology, the Sessho-seki, or “Killing Stone”, in the volcanic mountains of Nasu in Tochigi Prefecture is the transformed corpse of Tamamo-no-Mae, a beautiful woman who is actually an evil nine-tailed fox.
Tamamo-no-Mae had been plotting with an evil feudal lord to kill Emperor Toba and take his throne but was killed by a famous warrior, and her corpse became the Sessho-seki.
The stone, which contains toxic volcanic gas, is said to kill anyone who comes into contact with it.
In March it was found split in half, with a tweet by user @Lily0727K showing the split rock going viral.
“I came alone to Sessho-seki, where the legend of the nine-tailed fox remains,” the tweet read. “The big rock in the middle wrapped around with a rope is that… It was supposed to be, but the rock was split in half and the rope was also detached. If this is a manga, it means that the seal is broken and it’s possessed by the nine-tailed fox, and I feel like I’ve seen something that shouldn’t be seen.”
8. Women In Cambodia Couldn’t Stop Playing With This Penis-Like Plant And Now It Might Go Extinct
The Cambodian government had to ask people to stop playing around with a local penis-like plant, which is at risk of extinction.
The Ministry of Environment released a statement on Facebook on May. 11 urging people to protect the endangered plant after a video of three woman playing with the phallic-looking plant in Bokor Mountain went viral.
In the video, three women are seen plucking the plant from the ground and holding them up to the camera as they make various jokes about their sizes and shapes.
9. The Giant Potato This New Zealand Couple Accidentally Grew Turned Out To Not Actually Be A Potato
In 2021, a couple living in Waikato, New Zealand, dug up what may have been the world’s biggest potato growing in their garden.
Well, the results are in, and according to the Guinness World Records, Dug the potato is not actually a potato but a “tuber of a gourd.”
