Living in the foreign culture can be exciting, but it can also be confusing. A group of Americans who taught English in other countries recently discussed their experiences. They discussed that miscommunications were always possible, even over something as simple as “yes”and“no”.
     On her first day in Micronesia, an island in the Pacific, Lisa thought the waitress wasn't paying any attention to her. The day was hot she went into a store and asked, "Do you have any cold drinks?" The woman there didn't say anything. Lisa repeated the question again. Still the woman said nothing. She later learned that the woman had answered her: She has raised her eyebrows, which in Micronesia, it means, "yes".
     Jan remembered an experience she had in Bulgaria, a country in Europe. She went to a restaurant that was known for its cabbage. She asked the writer,“Do you have cabbage today?”He nodded his head. Jan waited, but the cabbage never came. In that country, a nod means "no".
     Tom had a similar problem when he arrived in India. After explaining something in class, he asked his students if they understood. They answered with different nods and shakes of heads. He thought some people hadn't understood, so he explained again. When he asked again, they did the same thing. He soon found out that his students did understand. In India, people nod and shake heads in different ways. It depends on where they come from.

    One day, a young man was taking a walk with a professor(教授). As they went along, they saw a pair of old shoes lying on the road. They thought the owner of the shoes must be a poor man who worked on the farm nearby. The student said to the professor, "Let's take away his shoes, and hide (躲藏) ourselves behind those trees and wait to see what will happen when he cannot find them. That must be very interesting."

    "My young friend," answered the professor, "we should never make fun of others who are poor. But you can put a coin (硬币) into each shoe, and then we will hide ourselves and watch what change (变化) will happen to him."

    The student did so, and they went to hide themselves behind the trees.

    The poor man soon finished his work, and came back. When he was putting on his coat, he put his foot into one of his shoes. He felt something hard and found the coin. Surprise was seen on his face. He found the coin and looked at it again and again. He then looked around, but there was no person. He now put the money into his pocket (口袋). When he put on the other shoe, he was surprised again to find the other coin. He fell on his knees (膝盖), looked up to the sky and said aloud some thanksgiving words to the person who gave him the coins.

    The student stood there, and his eyes were full of tears (眼泪),"You have taught me a lesson that I will never forget. Now I understand:      ▲       ,"he said.

    My name is Bill. I'm from England. I am a worker. I work in a clothes shop. My wife , Ann, is a teacher. She teaches English in a junior high school. We have two kids: a son and a daughter. They are students. Jim is our son. Now he is in his favorite T-shirt and blue pants. Sally is our daughter. She likes blue very much. Now she is in her blue dress. My father's name is Robby. My mother's name is Diana. They are old and they don't work now. I have a brother. His name is Robert. He is a worker, too. My wife's father is Sam. Her mother's name is Rose. Her sister is Lily. She is a teacher, too.

    Once there were two mice. They were friends. One mouse lived in the country; the other mouse lived in the city. After many years the Country mouse saw the City mouse; he said, "Do come and see me at my house in the country." So the City mouse went. The City mouse said, "This food is not good, and your house is not good. Why do you live in a hole in the field? You should come and live in the city. You would live in a nice house made of stone. You would have nice food to eat. You must come and see me at my house in the city."

    The Country mouse went to the house of the City mouse. It was a very good house. Nice food was set ready for them to eat. But just as they began to eat they heard a great noise. The City mouse cried, " Run! Run! The cat is coming!" They ran away quickly and hid.

    After some time they came out. When they came out, the Country mouse said, "I do not like living in the city. I like living in my hole in the field. For it is nicer to be poor and happy, than to be rich and afraid."

    In the 1950s, a female swimming athlete set a goal for herself. She decided to swim across the English Channel before she retired. If she could make it, she would be the first person in the world who did it.

    On that day, she jumped into the sea without any hesitation and swam towards the opposite bank.

    In the journey, she faced heavy fog, heavy rain and heavy waves. Though she was very tired, she carried on swimming.

    But in the end, she gave up. And what she didn't know at the moment she gave up was that the opposite bank was only 1 mile away.

    Later people asked her about the reason. And she said," The reason why I gave up is that I could not see the destination which I was so close to. "

    Too many stories about success have been lecturing us about courage and persistence(坚持). But they never told us where to find courage and persistence.

    You can have courage only when you know where your goal is. You can manage to persist only when you know where your goal is, and prepare yourself well mentally(心理上).

    Courage and persistence never fall from the sky. They come from weighing between input and output.

    A life without goals is like a ship without a compass. It goes nowhere. There is no courage or persistence in a life without goals.