The National Spelling Bee is back and in full swing after last year's part in-person, part virtual competition because of the pandemic.

This is a tradition that goes back almost a century, and a lot has changed in that time.

The Bee has been around since 1925. Back then, nine newspapers got together to sponsor the first event. The first winner was an 11-year-old from Kentucky who spelled the word "gladiolus" correctly. He knew the word because he had raised the flower back home and won $500 worth of gold pieces as an award.

Nowadays, the semifinalists get a $500 gift card. The finalists get a few thousand dollars. The champion gets $50,000, the trophy, more money and a reference library from Merriam-Webster, and more gifts from Encyclopædia Britannica, including a 1768 Replica Set.

There have been a few times when the Bee did not buzz.

From 1943 to 1945, there was no Bee because of World War II, and it was canceled in 2020 when the pandemic first began.

In 2019, the Bee had to deal with an 8-way tie because the judges quite literally ran out of words.

Since then, the Bee has added a lightning round. If there are still multiple spellers left standing by the final round, they'll be given 90 seconds to spell out as many words as possible from a prepared list. Whoever spells the most words correctly wins.

After a yearlong hiatus because of the pandemic, the Bee returned last year with another first: Zaila Avant-Garde became the first Black American to be crowned winner of the Bee. She won in round 18 for spelling the word “Murraya” right. In case you were wondering, it’s a genus of tropical Asiatic and Australian trees having pinnate leaves and flowers with imbricated petals.

So, it’s a plant, but Zaila was picturing something different when she won.

“Bill Murray’s face," Avant-Garde said. "I just got 'Murraya' and I just thought of his face, and it was so funny to me."

Millions of kids fight for the chance to make it to the Scripps National Spelling Bee. This year, it began with 234. By the end of day one, 88 spellers remained.

The first few rounds consist of oral competition and one round of multiple-choice word meaning. As it turns out, it’s not just spelling.

An incorrect answer in any of those rounds will get you an automatic elimination — and a ding.

The Bee has become more than just a competition. Today, it is live-streamed and tweeted about, which is very different than when it first started. Now, it's a national spectacle.

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For a year and a half, music fans have been struggling to get refunds.

For Tom Relly, it was several hundred dollars worth of tickets to a canceled Foo Fighters concert.

"They are a pretty big business, and we are just little people who want our money back," he said.

In Diedre Perlmutter's case, it was a postponed Cher performance.

"Now they are not refunding anything because it has not been canceled," she said.

Mike Kramer is at his wit's end trying to get answers about his tickets to a soccer match.

He tried calling but said, "the recording flat out said we are not providing any phone support at this time."

Third-party ticket sellers may not have money to give

The good news: Ticketmaster is now refunding tickets to events canceled in 2020 and 2021.

But millions of people like Kramer are dealing with third-party ticket sellers that all have different policies.

Michelle Couch Friedman, who is with the nonprofit consumer group Elliott Advocacy, says there's nothing wrong with resellers until it comes to refunds.

"Any time you are putting a third party between you and your purchase, you are adding a layer of difficulty if there is a problem later," she said.

Many concertgoers did not even realize they were buying from a third-party ticket broker, which never even had the tickets.

"When the concerts or events are being canceled, the refunds are going to those people who were the original ticket holder," Friedman said.

That means a third-party buyer may never receive a refund.

What you can do

There are some things people can do to protect themselves when buying concert tickets or requesting a refund.

Elliott Advocacy suggests:

• Buying directly from Ticketmaster, if possible.
• Being careful when Googling for Ticketmaster. Third-party sites often pay for search engines' top listings. 
• Emailing the ticket site or contacting them through Twitter if you can't reach a human over the phone.
• Filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau.

Finally, customers can dispute the charge through their credit card, but if the refund is already in the works, Elliott Advocacy says that could actually muck things up and get them nowhere.

So use a credit card dispute as a last resort, so you don't waste your money.

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Related video above: Why alone time can be the best time

A nurse who spent last year on the frontlines fighting the COVID-19 pandemic is spending a week on an isolated island in Sweden with only movies and the sea for company.

Lisa Enroth was the lucky film enthusiast chosen by Sweden's Goteborg Film Festival to experience its experimental isolated cinema.

Like many recent film festivals, Göteborg festival is going digital in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, so organizers wanted to offer up a unique experience.

The film festival offered those interested in the isolated cinema experience to apply online. They received applicants from all over the world.

Enroth has been transported by boat to the Swedish island of Pater Noster — which Göteborg Film Festival artistic director Jonas Holmberg calls "one of the most beautiful and dramatic places I know."

She's been set up in the former lighthouse keeper's house and spend a week — from Saturday to Feb. 6 — watching Göteborg's offerings. Enroth won't be allowed a cellphone, a laptop, a book or any other distractions.

Artistic director Jonas Holmberg told CNN Travel the inspiration for the idea was how people have turned to films for comfort during the pandemic.

"We are interested in how the audience's relationship to films changes under those circumstances, and wanted to explore this relationship by taking it to the extreme — isolating one person on a small rock in the sea for one week with films as the only company," says Holmberg.

Dramatic setting

Pater Noster is actually the name of the cast iron, bright red lighthouse that's been a feature of the tiny island of Hamneskär since 1868. Holmberg says a lighthouse keeper lived on the island in the cottage until the 1960s when the beacon was automated.

Hamneskär is situated off the coast of Marstrand in western Sweden. Apparently the name "Pater Noster" (meaning "Our Father" in Latin) came from sailors fearful of the rough seas surrounding the island, who'd utter the Lord's Prayer under their breath as they navigated these waters.

The lighthouse was deactivated in recent years, and the lighthouse cabin was recently renovated by design agency Stylt, so Enroth will be able to relax in comfort and style. The living room will be set up as a screening room for movie-watching, while food will be provided for self catering.

"The stay at the island will be perfectly safe. The person will have a soft bed and nice food. This is not about surviving," says Holmberg.

For safety reasons, Enroth won't be totally alone — there will be another person staying on the island but they'll keep their distance.

"If everything goes as planned, they will never meet during the seven days," says Holmberg.