I have happy memories of trips to Europe, but my trip to Romania (罗马尼亚) was unique. When I was there as recalled, it was like being in a "James Bond" movie. My husband was born there, but his family sent him to study in Italy. Before he left, his mother told him, "As long as I write in pencil, don't come back. When I write to you in pen, it's safe to return." But she never wrote in pen.

    My husband lived a poor life in Italy. He applied to go to America, but there was a limit in number and he was rejected. He was accepted by Canada, though, and from Calgary he jumped onto a train to San Francisco. There he stayed —illegally. He became a US citizen when we got married. By then he was a charming European with a Romanian accent and the manners of a prince.

    With seven years' experience in America, a US passport, and two children later, he felt it was safe to visit Romania. He hadn't seen his mother, two sisters, and two brothers since he was sixteen. We flew to Munich, Germany; picked up the German-made car we had purchased in the States; and drove to Romania via Austria and Hungary. When we reached Bucharest, the capital city of Romania, his family was waiting outside his sister's house to greet us. After a long time of hugging, kissing, and crying, his family also hugged me, the American wife with two young children. They had great interest in me. Few Americans visited Romania at that time, and most Romanians had little chance to travel. I had brought an English-Romanian dictionary with me and managed to communicate, using only nouns, with no verbs. My Romanian improved, and the family's stock of English words increased, but mostly I spoke in broken, New York-accented Romanian. The sisters loved their gifts of skirts and purses, the brothers loved the radios, and the children loved the candy. We made side trips to the Black Sea and enjoyed sightseeing in beautiful mountains. Dining at outdoor cafes to the music of violins was fantastic with fancy flavor, but nothing was as special as family dinners.

    Romania didn't have many dry cleaners. Most homes had old-fashioned washing machines but no dryers, and it was a hot summer. My husband's relatives didn't want to risk dirtying their clothes. Their solution was as simple as it was shocking: the women only wore their bras(胸罩) and slips (衬裙) at dinner table. The men were eating without shirts. They all had jobs, so time was precious. Having dinner without proper clothes was a small inconvenience compared with the effort of washing clothes —at least in my husband's home, perhaps all across Romania. I, of course, having just met them, ate fully clothed. I washed my clothes by hand and hung them outdoors to dry.

On the last night of our three-week stay, we had a large family dinner. I was tired of washing my clothes. So I pulled my dress over my head and placed it on the chair behind me. All men and women applauded for my action. Even with my poor Romanian, I understood that they were saying, "She's part of our family now."

My children were 4 and 5 at the time, but they still have memories of that trip. They know how to say, "Good morning." and "There are apricots (杏子) on the tree." I can still say, "Do you speak Romanian?" and "I swim in the Black Sea." But most of all, I remember sitting at a long dining-room table in my bra, enjoying meatballs with fresh garlic (大蒜).

    On July 1, 2017, Canada turned 150. That day, more than half a million people visited Ottawa for the country's biggest birthday celebration ever. At the same time, hundreds of parties, fireworks displays, and performances took place across Canada to mark the occasion.

    As we all know, native people like the Inuit have lived in Canada for thousands of years. About 500 years ago. French and British people started arriving there. They claimed some of the land for their countries. The two countries often fought over control of the land. The British won full control of the area in 1763. But French remains one of the official languages, along with English. Canada became fully independent of Britain in 1982.

    Over the years, it is now the second-largest country in the world. At more than 5,500 miles, its border with the US is the longest border between the two nations.

    Canadians are proud of their country. Canada even made the list of the 10 happiest countries, according to a 2017United Nations report. Located not far from the North Pole, its cold and icy north is home to about two-thirds of the world's polar bears. Its icy and snowy land also helps explain why some of its popular sports are ice hockey, skiing and curling(冰壶)

    They are also very proud of the country's history of welcoming people from around the world and of the diverse population. “It reminds us of the values that unite us—openness, and deep respect for our differences,” says Prime Minister Trudeau. “Today, and every day, let us celebrate the differences that make Canada strong, diverse and proud.”

    About one in ten video game players shows signs of addictive behavior that could have negative effects on their family, friends and school work, according to a new study conducted in New York.

    Researchers at Iowa State University(ISU) and the National Institute on Media and the Family found that some gamers show at least six symptoms of gambling addiction such as lying to family and friends about how much they play games, using the games to escape their problems and becoming restless when they stop playing.

    They may also skip homework to play video games or spend too much time playing games and do poorly in school. "While the medical community currently does not recognize video game addiction as mental disorder, hopefully this study will be one of many that allow us to have an educated conversation on the positive and negative effects of video games," said Dr. Douglas Gentile, an assistant professor of psychology at ISU.

    Dr. David Walsh, the president of the National Institute on Media and the Family which tries to reduce the harm of media on the health and development of children and families, said the findings are a wake-up call." This study gives everyone a better idea of the problem," he explained.

    The researchers, who studied 1,178 American children and teenagers, aged 8 to 18, found some displayed at least 6 of 11 symptoms of pathological (病态的) gambling as stated by the American Psychiatric Association. Addicted gamers played video games 24 hours a week, twice as much as casual gamers. Some addicted gamers even steal to support their habit, according to the findings that will be published in the journal Psychological Science.

    While video games can be fun and entertaining, some kids are getting trouble. "I continue to hear from families who are concerned about their kids' gaming habits. Not only do we need to focus on identifying the problem, but we need to find ways to help families prevent and treat gaming addiction.

    BELJLNG—Eating at a Beijing restaurant is usually an adventure for foreigners, and particularly when they get the chance to order "chicken without sex life" or "red burned lion head".

    Sometimes excited but mostly confused, embarrassed or even terrified, many foreigners have long complained about mistranslations of Chinese dishes. And their complaints are often valid, but such an experience at Beijing's restaurants will apparently soon be history.

    Foreign visitors will no longer, hopefully, be confused by oddly worded restaurant menus in the capital if the government's plan to correctly translate 3, 000 Chinese dishes is a success and the translations are generally adopted.

    The municipal (市政) office of foreign affairs has published a book to recommend English translations of Chinese dishes, which aims to help restaurants avoid bizarre translations. "It provides the names of main dishes of famous Chinese cuisines in plain English," an official with the city's Foreign Affairs office said, "Restaurants are encouraged to use the proposed translations, but it will not be compulsory." It's the city's latest effort to bridge the culture gap for foreign travelers in China.

    "The book is a blessing to tourist guides like me. Having it, I don't have to rack my brains trying to explain Chinese dishes to foreign travelers," said Zheng Xiaodong, a 31-year-old employee with a Beijing-based travel agency.

    "I will buy the book as I major in English literature and I'd like to introduce Chinese cuisine culture to more foreign friends," said Han Yang, a postgraduate student at the University of International Business and Economics.

    It is not clear if the book will be introduced to other parts of China. But on Tuesday, this was the most discussed topic on weibo.com, China's most popular micro-blogging site.

    Even for a first-time visitor to China, it is impossible to ignore the popularity of Quick-Response (QR) codes. These square-shaped black-and-white symbols in WeChat or Alipay where QR codes are scanned to add new friends or make payments.

    The QR Code system originated in Japan. The engineer Masahiro Hara felt the limitation of the one-dimension barcode in use and thus developed the QR codes which could carry data horizontally and vertically. QR codes could hold much more information than barcode due to their extra dimension. In addition, QR codes have larger data capacity, smaller print—out size and higher resistance to dirt and damage, which make them widely applied in many other applications.

    Though the technology of QR codes is complicated, we can easily create our own QR codes with the help of QR code generators, many of which are available online for free. Users could enter the data they wish the QR code to display, and the generator turns it into a symbol that can be printed or displayed in electronic form. The process of creating QR codes could be really fun when we customise the design of the codes according to our specific needs. For instance, we can adjust the color, add a logo, and create social options etc. Moreover, dynamic (动态的) QR codes are also available. They are more various than standard QR codes because they allow users to edit data entered previously whereas data in standard QR codes cannot be edited once printed. Plus, don't limit your QR code to one mobile scanner. Anyone can scan your code with any reader. A lower barrier to entry makes success more likely for you and the user.

    Meanwhile, we must also recognize the vulnerability of QR codes. Due to its easy access, criminals can steal simply by replacing the QR codes with their own, routing cash into their own bank accounts. Hence, we should all become more conscious towards virtual money transactions through QR codes and participate in additional security measures.

    Garbage sorting has become a hot issue around China, especially after Shanghai began carrying out a regulation on July 1.

    Beijing, as a forerunner in environmental protection, has thus been expected to follow suit. The capital of the country has long been campaigning for sorting and recycling household waste, as part of its environmental drive for sustainable growth, local media reported.

    The current regulation gives garbage sorting responsibilities to government departments, property management groups and other organizations. It also gives rules for companies, outlining how they're responsible for waste collection, transportation and treatment. Only individuals are not subject to responsibilities.

    The long-awaited revision will soon change the situation, "Taking out the trash without sorting it properly will be illegal," said Sun Xinjun, director of the Beijing Commission of Urban Management. In Shanghai, violators are now fined up to 200 yuan ($30)for trash-sorting violations. The maximum fine in Beijing will not be less than that, he said.

    The Beijing city government first set out to promote garbage sorting in 2009. Authorities have since called on citizens to sort their household waste into four types-recyclable waste, kitchen trash, dangerous waste and others-and leave it in a corresponding dustbin or trash can. Blue-colored dustbins signify items within are recyclable, green represents kitchen trash, red corresponds to dangerous materials and grey to other waste.

    To promote the awareness of garbage sorting and expand the base of participants, authorities have employed workers to help residents on the spot. With intelligent devices, those who throw in recyclable waste at given sites will be rewarded with bonus points, which can be used to buy daily goods. At some communities, there are no color-coded dustbins. Instead, a scheduled garbage collection service is offered to help improve the environment. In other communities, workers offer a door-to-door service to collect recyclables or kitchen waste.

    Beijing Environmental Sanitation Engineering Group has been promoting new garbage sorting facilities such as recycling cabinets and smart kitchen waste trash cans since 2016, Xinhua News Agency reported. Nearly 26,000 metric tons of household waste is generated across Beijing on a daily basis and 29 terminal garbage disposal facilities are working at full capacity. Nearly 9.3 million tons of household waste was processed in the city last year.