I had the meanest mother in the whole world. While other kidsate candy for breakfast, I had to have cereal, eggs or toast. When others hadcokes and candy for lunch, I had to eat a sandwich. As you can guess, my supperwas different from the other kids' also. But at least, I wasn't alone in mysufferings. My sister and two brothers had the same mean mother as I did.

My mother insisted upon knowing where we were at all times.You'd think we were on a chain gang. She had to know who our friends were andwhere we were going. She insisted if we said we'd be gone an hour, that we begone one hour or less — not one hour and one minute.

We had to wear clean clothes and take a bath everyday. The otherkids always wore their clothes for days. We reached the height of insultsbecause she made our clothes herself, just to save money.

The worst is yet to come. We had to be in bed by nine each nightand up at eight the next morning. We couldn't sleep till noon like our friends.So while they slept — my mother actually had the nerve to break the ChildLabor Law. She made us work. We had to wash dishes, make beds, learn to cookand all sorts of cruel things. I believe she laid awake at night thinking upmean things to do to us.

Through the years, things didn't improve a bit. We could not liein bed, "sick" like our friends did, and miss school. Our marks inschool had to be up to par. Our friends' report cards had beautiful colors onthem, black for passing, red for failing. My mother, being as different as shewas, would settle for nothing less than ugly black marks.

As the years rolled by, first one and then the other of us wasput to shame. We were graduated from high school. With our mother behind us,talking, hitting and demanding respect, none of us was allowed the pleasure ofbeing a drop-out.

My mother was a complete failure as a mother. Out of fourchildren, a couple of us attained some higher education. None of us have everbeen arrested or divorced. Each of my brothers served his time in the serviceof this country. She forced us to grow up into God-fearing, educated, honestadults. Using this as a background, I am now trying to raise my three children.I am filled with pride when my children call me mean. Why? Because now I thankGod every day for giving me the meanest mother in the whole world.

    Whenever we talk about holidays, my mother teases my sister and me about how we “make out like robbers.” She is referring to the fact that we are half Jewish and half Indian, so we receive gits on both the festivals of lights. Hanukkah and Diwali. Though my mother teases us, I do not mind getting two sets of gifts!

    Hanukkah is celebrated on the 25th day of the Jewish month. Which is usually sometime in December. On Hanukkah, like most Jewish families. We light a menorah and say a prayer each night. We also say a special prayer on the first night. After that, it is a tradition tor my sister and me to do 'hot and cold', for our hidden Hanukkah gifts. When we walk towards the gift, our parents say 'hot' and when we walk further away, they say 'cold'. We each receive one present every night of Hanukkah. Another part I like about this holiday is seeing family members who we do not see often. My aunt usually stays for a few days, and we sometimes visit other relatives.

    Diwali is celebrated on the 13th day of the dark fortnight of the month of Ashwin(October / November). To celebrate Diwali, my family does a pooja, or prayers, in honor of the goddess Lakshmi. Since she is the goddess of wealth and prosperity, the pooja includes washing silver coins in milk and water. In India, people decorate their houses with lamps, similar to the way you might light up your house for Christmas. My family just places a few candles outside We also set off firecrackers, which is my favorite part. We often do this activity with friends to add to the excitement.

    Both holidays have different histories and stories. We celebrate them in different ways, yet they both have the same meaning. They both translate into. Festival of Lights, and they both mean family and presents for me!

    While both Europe and the United States of America are considered the Western world, it's good to know there are some differences in culture. If you are considering moving to a European country, you will find the information below helpful as you plan your move.

    One cultural difference is how the countries perceive（感知）time and space. For example, a house in the United States that is 200 years old would be considered ancient. This is probably because America is a fairly young country. However, in Europe, something would not be considered ancient unless it was at least 2,000 years old. However, perception of distance seems to be the opposite. While Europeans would consider 100 kilometers a long way to drive, Americans would think twice. This could be due to the fact that Europe is smaller and more heavily populated. In fact, the United States is over twice the size of Europe.

    Cars are another factor that differs greatly between Europe and the United States. American automobiles usually have automatic transmissions（传动）while European cars generally have manual gears（手动变速器）. European automobiles are smaller and more round-shaped, while American cars are larger and more square-shaped. Trucks and limousine are vehicles that American enjoy. In Europe, however, these types of vehicles are hardly seen, as they prefer smaller cars due to parking and traffic congestion.

    The view of education is another cultural difference between the European countries and the United States. In America, parents may save for many years and even go into debt to pay for their children to attend college. Most schools and universities in Europe, however, are free of tuition. In fact, it is just expected for children to attend college there and not a privilege（特权）, as in the United States.

    Would you like to travel? Here is some advice for you.

    Kingsway Hall Hotel

    We offer quality service in Kingsway Hall Hotel. This location puts guests in easy reach of many places, such as the British Museum and Piccadilly Circus. Our hotel also has modern Western food, and offers a perfect dining environment. The lounge bar is a comfortable place to enjoy a drink while watching the tourists. There are hundreds of dining choices within walking distance. Non-smoking rooms are ready for guests.

    Hilton Docklands Riverside

    Located on the bank of the Thames, our hotel is about two miles east of Tower Bridge and 36 miles from London Heathrow Airport. Our hotel has a beauty salon, a flower shop and a swimming pool. The hotel also offers laundry(洗衣店)services, babysitting, shining shoes, and local area transportation.

    Windermere Hotel

    Located in the center of London, our hotel puts guests within easy reach of London's well-known buildings. Buckingham Palace and the Royal Parks are just a short walk away. Within 1.5 miles you can visit Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament. The theatres, Harrods shopping centre, and the designer shops of Sloane Square and Knightsbridge are all only a short walk away or a taxi ride away.

    What a day! I started at my new school this morning and had the best time. I made lots of new friends and really liked my teachers. I was nervous the night before, but I had no reason to be. Everyone was so friendly and polite. They made me feel at ease. It was like I'd been at the school for a hundred years!

    The day started very early at 7∶00 a.m. had my breakfast downstairs with my mom. She could tell that I was very nervous. Mom kept asking me what was wrong. She told me I had nothing to worry about and that everyone was going to love me. If they didn't love me, Mom said to send them her way for a good talking to. I couldn't stop laughing.

    My mom dropped me off at the school gates about five minutes before the bell. A little blonde(金发的) girl got dropped off at the same time and started waving(招手) at me. She ran over and told me her name was Abigail. She was very nice and we became close straight away. We spent all morning together and began to talk to another girl called Stacey. The three of us sat together in class all day and we even made our way home together! It went so quickly. Our teacher told us that tomorrow we would really start learning and developing new skills.

    I cannot wait until tomorrow and feel as though I am really going to enjoy my time at my new school. I only hope that my new friends feel the same way too.

    A Japanese telecom company has designed a robot that it says has emotions (情绪). But rather than run in fear from it, we've welcomed it into our homes: Pepper, the "emotional robots" sold out within a minute of going on sale.

    Created by Aldebaran Robotics and Japanese mobile giant SoftBaok, Pepper went on sale to the general public in Japan on June 20. It is "the first humanoid (类人的) robot designed to live with humans, " Aldebaran says on its website. Pepper costs about $ 1, 600. And like all good mobile products, there's a $ 120 per month data fee, as well as an $80 per month damage insurance fee. According to a news report, Pepper can pick up on human emotions and create his own using a "multi - layer neural (神经的) network." Pepper's touch sensors and cameras are said to influence its mood, which is displayed on the tablet-sized screen on its chest.

    Pepper will sigh when unhappy, and can go around your house recording your family's daily activity. Aldebaran says Pepper can feel "joy, surprise, anger, doubt and sadness," but it doesn't say how strongly it can feel these emotions. What happens when Pepper is having a bad day? Will it, like many humans, become uncooperative? Will it ask for some time alone? What happens if it knows that its purpose in life is just to take part in small talk? Thankfully, Pepper is only about four feet tall, with roller balls instead of legs, so if it is angry with and even turns on its owners, you'll be safe if you can make it upstairs.

    Aldebaran says in reality, they're probably quite a few years away from artificial intelligence that could create real emotions. Aldebaran wasn't immediately able to tell when Pepper will be available out of Japan, but additional sales are scheduled for July after the first 1, 000 units sell out. SoftBank currently uses the robots in its stores as greeters, and it plans to offer Pepper to other stores in the future. Hopefully "boredom" is not an emotion Pepper can feel.