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    Every year, hundreds of millions of Monarch Butterflies(黑脉金斑蝶) from Canada and the United States journey as far as 2, 500 miles to the forests of Michoacan, Mexico, a place which has the world's largest insect migration(迁移). It's such a breathtaking sight, but as always, human greed is threatening to destroy it.

    The Monarch Butterflies start to arrive in Michoacan in late October to make their winter home in the trees high up in the mountains of the natural reserve. Once there, they gather together in large masses. These masses often become so heavy that they cause tree branches to bend or even break. But there's a purpose of all these massing — it allows the butterflies to survive in the low nighttime temperatures at these high altitudes.

    The Michoacan Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary is most impressive during the months of February and March, just before the winged insects begin their long journey home.

    Mexico's Butterfly Forest is a shelter protected by law, and one of the country's most popular sights, but that hasn't stopped people from slowly but steadily destroying it.

    Illegal woodcutting in the heart of the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve has been a longstanding problem, but criminals are rarely brought to justice. They are often set free after paying some money.

    Just last month, an even greater threat rose in Michoacan's butterfly home.  The country's largest mining corporation gained the right to reopen an old mine in the heart of the monarch reserve. Experts believe that if the mine is reopened, it will likely spell the end of this magical place.

    And as if all this wasn't bad enough, the increasing use of herbicides（除草剂） in the American corn belt has led to the decrease of  a plant which is essential to the monarchs' development from egg into butterfly.

    High school in Austria is a fantastic way to experience life overseas while growing academically.

    Activities

    Austria's close proximity（接近）to lakes, forests and mountains enables it to offer a great variety of activities. Alpine skiing began with local competitions in the Austrian Arlberg area. Snowboarding, surfing, sailing, horseback riding, soccer, tennis and volleyball are also popular activities.

    Program Dates

    Dates subject to change

    Academic Year

    Dates: August-June

    Application Before April 15th

    US$ 500 Early Application Discount Apply by February 2nd.

    Fall Trimester

    Dates: August-November

    Application Before April 15th

    US$ 300 Early Application Discount Apply by February 2nd

    Fall Semester

    Dates: August-January

    Application Before April 15th

    US$ 500 Early Application Discount Apply by February 2nd

    Spring Trimester

    Dates: January-April

    Application Before October 1st

    US$ 300 Early Application Discount Apply by July 2nd

    Spring Semester

    Dates: January-June

    Application Before October 1st

    U$ 500 Early Application Discount Apply by July 2nd

    Eligibility（资格）

    You should:

    Be between 15 and 18 years of age.

    Be from the United States or Canada.

    Have a high school grade of at least 2.75/4.

    Be in great mental and physical health.

    Have a genuine interest in becoming a part of your host family and community.

    Be willing to learn the German language.

    Costs

    Academic Trimester: US$ 8,820

    Academic Semester: US$ 12,470

    Academic Year: US$ 14,160

    Will it matter if you don't take your breakfast? Recently a test was given in the United States. Those tested included people of different ages, from 12 to 83. During the experiment, these people were given all kinds of breakfasts, and sometimes they got no breakfast at all. Special tests were set up to see how well their bodies worked when they had eaten a certain kind of breakfast. The results show that if a person eats a proper breakfast, he or she will work with better effect than if he or she has no breakfast. This fact appears to be especially true if a person works with his brains. If a student eats fruit, eggs, bread and milk before going to school, he will learn more quickly and listen with more attention to class.

    Opposite to what many people believe, if you don't eat breakfast, you will not lose weight. This is because people become so hungry at noon that they eat too much for lunch, and end up gaining weight instead of losing. You will probably lose more weight if you reduce your other meals.

Dear Daisy,

    Phew! I'm so glad the day is over. I'm really tired, but my first day at school went well.

    First of all, we met outside the school building. I was very nervous because my primary school only had 300 pupils but in the middle school there are about 1300. What a difference! The older pupils are really big. I felt so small waiting there in front of the school.

    The head teacher came out and told us to go into the school hall. Then he called our names out to tell us which class we were in. My class teacher is called Mrs. Black. She took us to our classroom. It's on the 5th floor. We aren't allowed to use the lift! I couldn't believe it.

    We spent all morning with Mrs. Black looking at our timetables. Everyone in the school had a different timetable. I'm worried that I'll forget my timetable and go to the wrong room.

    Lunchtime was OK. I had salad, fish and fruit, which was quite good, and then I went to play football with some of the other boys. They were all friendly and I don't think it will take me long to make friends.

    After lunch we started lessons. I had maths and then history, where we started to learn about ancient Greece. That looked interesting. 1 have to do some homework tonight to find out how the ancient Greek people lived, so I'm going to do an Internet search and look it up in the library.

    So far so good. I am quite looking forward to tomorrow, even though I've got science. I hate science!

Yours,

Jason

    Sometimes you'll hear people say that you can't love others until you love yourself. Sometimes you'll hear people say that you can't expect someone else to love you until you love yourself. Either way, you've got to love yourself first and this can be tricky. Sure we all know that we're the apple of our parents' eyes, and that our Grandmas think we're great talents and our Uncle Roberts think that we will go to the Olympics, but sometimes it's a lot harder to think such nice thoughts about ourselves. If you find that believing in yourself is a challenge, it is time you build a positive sell-image and learn to love yourself.

    Self-image is your own mind's picture of yourself. This image includes the way you look, the way you act, the way you talk and the way you think. Interestingly, our self-images are often quite different from the images others hold about us. Unfortunately, most of these images are more negative than they should be. Thus changing the way you think about yourself is the key to changing your self-image and your whole world.

    The best way to defeat a passive self-image is to step back and decide to stress your successes. That is, make a list if you need to, but write down all of the great things you do every day. Don't allow doubts to occur in it.

    It very well might be that you are experiencing a negative self-image because you can't move past one flaw or weakness that you see about yourself. Well, roll up your sleeves and make a change of it as your primary task. If you think you're silly because you aren't good at math, find a tutor. If you think you're weak because you can't run a mile, get to the track and practice. If you think you're dull because you don't wear the latest trends, buy a few new clothes. But remember, just because you think it doesn't mean it's true.

    The best way to get rid of a negative serf-image is to realize that your image is far objective, and to actively convince yourself of your positive qualities. Changing the way you think and working on those you need to improve will go a long way towards promoting positive self-image. When you can pat(拍)yourself on the back, you'll know you're well on your way. Good luck!

My dearest daughter,

    As I looked across at you sitting on the sofa watching The X Factor, I noticed that you are no longer a child, and that having just celebrated your 14th birthday, you are now a young woman starting a journey into becoming an adult woman. As I looked at you, I remembered myself at 14, and the vastly different places we are beginning this journey from.

    Your identity as a mixed-race young woman, with an English father and a Pakistani mother, has already influenced how you place yourself in this world. As yet, you are unaware of the personal struggles that I took at the age of 25 to marry. How it felt when my mother refused to come to my wedding. The sharp criticisms of the Asian community that such marriages do not work out and always end in divorce (离婚). The confidence I had to grow, as we chose to live in a multicultural community, as I refused to be shamed into living in the white suburbs (郊区).

    Then, at the age of 30, I became your mum with all the joys and struggles this brought, as I refused the Asian traditions for a new baby's arrival. From your birth, your life could not have been more different from mine. I was brought up on a council estate (地方政府建的住宅群), within a close extended Muslim family, through which poverty, racism and neglect were mixed. I was never given the freedoms or the opportunity to experience new things. Now, as I hear you play your piano, I am grateful that you have these chances.

    So many doors were closed to me as a young person, and as I fought for small steps of freedom, I soon learned that it was better to do what I wanted without the knowledge of my parents, and so lies and tricks became part of my life too. The pressures to obey, to be a "good Muslim" girl and keep the family honor, were choking. Behind closed doors at home, the neglect and abuse (虐待) took place. It was hidden, I felt the shame, lived with the fear and suffered together with my sister and two younger brothers. Oh, the power we thought our parents had over us! I was convinced that one day my father would indeed beat us so hard that leaving us for dead, he would, as his threats said he would, bury us in the large back garden, and tell the school he had taken us back to Pakistan for good. My sister and I longed for a different blue sky to live under.

    As a daughter of immigrant (移民) parents, I carried their hopes of a better education for their children—my own veins (血管) pulsing with the hard-work ethic (道德) and need to be grateful for the opportunity of a free education. And it was education that provided me with the strength to find my own blue sky. I fought to leave home to go to university at the age of 18, and never returned to live with my parents again.

    Now as you explore your mixed-race heritage, which I hope we have supported you to do with visits to Pakistan and ensuring you go to multi-cultural schools, I want you to take the very best of all that is Asian with you as you become a woman.

    The struggles of identity (身份) and belonging will come but I hope that we have given you a strong foundation from which to explore these struggles. All the chances and freedoms that I only dreamed of as a young woman, I have offered you. I have chosen a different path of loving you as my daughter, with an unconditional love that many consider "western".

    I want you to know that although your journey has been vastly different, I am excited as I watch you standing on the threshold (门槛) of becoming a woman for all the adventures and possibilities the future holds for you.

    May you fly your blue sky with grace, confidence and hope as you find your place in this beautiful and crazy world.

    Loving you now and always. Mommy