Meeting people from another culture can be difficult. From the beginning, people may send the wrong signal. Or they may pay no attention to signals from another person who is trying to develop a relationship.

    Different cultures emphasize the importance of relationship building to a greater or lesser degree. For example, business in some countries is not possible until there is a relationship of trust. Even with people at work, it is necessary to spend a lot of time in "small talk", usually over a glass of tea, before they do any job. In many European countries, like the UK or France, people find it easier to build up a lasting working relationship at restaurants or cafe rather than at the office.

    Talk and silence may also be different in some cultures. I once made a speech in Thailand. I had expected my speech to be a success and start a lively discussion, instead there was an uncomfortable silence. The people present just stared at me and smiled. After getting to know their ways better, I realized that they thought I was talking too much. In my own culture, we express meaning mainly through words, but people there sometimes feel too many words are unnecessary.

    Even within Northern Europe, cultural differences can cause serious problems. Certainly, English and German cultures share similar values, however, Germans prefer to get down to business more quickly. We think that they are rude. In fact, this is just because one culture starts discussions and makes decisions more quickly.

    People from different parts of the world have different values, and sometimes these values are quite against each other. However, if we can understand them better, a multicultural environment will offer a wonderful chance for us to learn from each other.

Walk For Charity

Dear Friend,

    Please join us for our annual Walk For Charity.Starting in Weldown,you and your friends can choose a delightful 10,20 or 30 kilometers' route.

    The money raised will provide support to help people all over the world.Start collecting your sponsors now and then simply come along on the day.Please read the instructions below carefully,especially if you require transport to and from Weldown.

    See you on Sunday 15 April.

    V Jessop: Walk coordinator

    PS.Well done to last year's walkers for helping to raise a grand total of ￡21,000.The money has already been used to build a children's playground.

    START TIME:

    30 km: 8-10 am      20 km: 8-10:30 am      10 km: 8-11:30 am

    The organizers reserve the right to refuse late-comers.

    CLOTHING should be suitable for the weather.If rain is forecast,bring some protection and be prepared for all possibilities.It is better to wear shoes that have been worn in,rather than ones that are new.

    ROUTE MAPS will be available from the registration point.The route will be sign-posted and arranged.Where the route runs along the road,walkers should keep to one side in single file,facing oncoming traffic at all times.If you need help along the route,please inform one of the staff.

    Free car parking is available in car parks and on streets in Weldown.

    BUSES:

    For the 10 and 20 kilometers' routes,a bus will be waiting at Fenton to take walkers back to Weldown.The bus will leave every half hour starting at midday.The service is free and there is no need to book.

    Last month I was lucky enough to have a chance to make a trip into space with my friend Li Yanping, an astronomer. We visited the moon in our spaceship!

    Before we left, Li Yanping explained to me that the force of gravity would change three times on our journey and that the first change would be the most powerful. Then we were off. As the rocket rose into the air, we were pushed back into our seats because we were trying to escape the pull of the earth's gravity. It was so hard that we could not say anything to each other. Gradually the weight lessened and I was able to talk to him. "Why is the spaceship not falling back to the earth? On the earth if I fall from a tree I will fall to the ground." I asked. "We are too far from the earth now to feel its pull, " he explained, "so we feel as if there is no gravity at all. When we get closer to the moon, we shall feel its gravity pulling us, but it will not be as strong a pull as the earth's. " I cheered up immediately and floated weightlessly around in our spaceship cabin watching the earth become smaller and the moon larger.

    When we got there, I wanted to explore immediately. "Come on," I said. "If you are right, my mass will be less than on the earth because the moon is smaller and I will be able to move more freely. I might even grow taller if I stay here long enough. I shall certainly weigh less!" I laughed and climbed down the steps from the spaceship. But when I tried to step forward, I found I was carried twice as far as on the earth and fell over. "Oh dear," I cried, "walking does need a bit of practice now that gravity has changed." After a while I got the hang of it and we began to enjoy ourselves.

    An interesting study posted on Facebook recently shows how men and women develop new interests as they mature(成熟).

    While women tend to take exercise seriously from the age of 34, men will wait until their 45th birthdays before working hard to get in shape.The average woman spends more time talking about sports, politics, career and money as she gets older.

    Women's interest in books reaches its peak(顶峰) at the age of 22, while that of men does so when they are in their 50s.

    Men start to change their focus from the workplace to other things after age 30, while women do not do so until eight years later. Both, however, care most about fashion at age 16.

    The research used anonymous(匿名的) data donated by thousands of Facebook users, recording the statuses, 'likes' and 'interests' they had posted on their profiles.

    It found the average woman talks about television most at 44, while men peak much younger, at age 31.

    Men are also most likely to see a film in a cinema at age 31, while women go out to see films most when they are only 19.

    Men are most interested in travel at 29, women at 27, while women talk most about food and drink at 35, and men at 38.

    And if you are middle aged, a safe topic for any audience is the weather, which is a key interest for many as they approach 60.

    Stephen Wolfram, the British scientist who carried out the research, says, “It's almost shocking how much this tells us about the changes of people's typical interests.

    “People talk less about video games as they get older, and more about politics.”

    If you are a teacher, join Youngzine and sign up your class for free today! Youngzine is an online News Magazine for school age children. It provides an educational, entertaining, yet safe way for kids and adults to get the latest news from around the world.

    Many educators have said that Youngzine is a perfect complement to academic material, and can be a great resource for teachers and their classes. Learning through current events not only makes students more aware of what's going on in the world, but also helps absorb concepts better.

    Moreover, Youngzine now provides a safe “blog” environment for classrooms—a constructive, creative and controlled way for teachers to create classroom assignments (任务) and push for discussions on current events!

    Youngzine provides special features just for you. If you sign up as a teacher:

    Each of your classes get a “Classroom Code” that identifies the students in that class. For each class, you get a “Blog” where you can post assignments and have students respond. You can include specific articles and quizzes in each assignment.

    For each of your classes, you get to see a foil report of each student's activities just by going to your classroom tab (标签): their comments, assignment, responses, points and quiz results.

    If you are a teacher of homeschool, when you and your students share a computer, it requires each of you to log in/out separately. If it is inconvenient, you can use a single account in your class on Youngzine.

    It only takes 2 minutes to get started:

    JOIN YOUNGZINE (if you haven't already done so) and SIGN UP YOUR CLASS!

    If you have any questions or comments, let us know—we'd love to make this work for your class.

    Twenty years ago, most experts believed that differences in how boys and girls behaved were mainly due to differences in how they were treated by their parents, teachers, and friends. It's hard to cling to that belief today. Recent research has shown that there are biological differences between boys and girls. Understanding these differences is important in raising and educating children.

    For example, girls are born with more sensitive hearing than boys, and the difference increases as kids grow up. So when a grown man speaks to a girl in what he thinks is a normal voice, she may hear it as yelling. Conversely (反过来), boys who appear to be inattentive in class may just be sitting too far away too hear the teacher.

    Likewise, girls are better in their expression of feelings. Studies reveal that negative emotions are seated in an area of the brain called the amygdala. Girls develop all early connection between this area and the cerebral cortex (大脑皮层), enabling them to talk about their feelings. In boys these links develop later. So if you ask a troubled adolescent boy to tell you what his feelings are, he often cannot say much.

    Dr. Sax, an advocate of single-sex education, points out that keeping boys and girls separate in the classroom has yielded striking educational, social, and interpersonal benefits. Therefore, parents and teachers should try to recognize, understand, and make use of the biological differences that make a girl a girl, and a boy a boy.