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.

For years I wanted a garden. I'd spend hours thinking of different things I could plant that would look nice together.

    But then we had Mathew， and Marvin， and the twins -- Alisa and Alan， and then Helen. I was too busy raising them to grow a garden.

    Money was not enough. Neither was time. Often when my children were little， one of them would want something that cost too much， I'd have to say，"Do you see a money tree outside? Money doesn't grow on trees， you know."

    Finally， all the children got through high school and college and were off on their own. I started thinking again about a garden.

    Then， one spring morning， on Mother's Day， I was working in my kitchen. Suddenly， I looked out of the window and there was a new tree， planted right in my yard. There were things blowing around on it. Then I put my glasses on and I couldn't believe what I saw. There was a money tree in my yard!

    I went out to look. It was true! There were dollar bills， one hundred of them， hanging all over that tree. There was also a note among them， "Thank you for your time， Mom. We love you!"

    Later， my children bought me tools， ornaments（装饰品）， a sunflower stepping stone and gardening books. A new page started in my life.

    That was three years ago. My garden is now very pretty， just like I wanted. When I go out and take care of my flowers， I don't seem to miss my children as much as I once did. It feels like they're right there with me. Now every year when winter comes， I look out of my window and think of the flowers I'll see next spring in my little garden. I think about what my children did for me， and I get tears in my eyes -- every time.

    I'm still not sure that money grows on trees. But I know love does!

    Esperanza lives in a poor Latino(拉丁美洲人) neighborhood in Chicago, .America. She dreams of having her own house one day. Her parents told her that when they moved from their last house, they would have a new' and shiny(亮闪闪的) house. But the house is small and old.

    Many people live in Mango Street in a big old house. Esperanza lives behind it with her family. A lot of the people who have come from Mexico don't speak English. Many miss their home country. Esperanza understands their sadness, but she also feels at home in America. She is an American, but her roots(根) will always be Latino,

    Esperanza is young. Like her friends, she has to grow up fast. She is stuck between being a girl and being a woman. In the poor and dangerous area where she lives, this is difficult for her. Mexican people usually live in a close neighborhood. This means that people live packed(挤塞的) in together. Everyone knows everyone else. So Esperanza knows other older girls that do things she is not comfortable doing. It is just a fact of her life.

    But Esperanza has good friends too. She becomes friends with two sisters named Lucy and Rachel. They ride bikes and have adventures together. Esperanza is also friends with a girl named Alicia. Alicia is afraid of the rats in her apartment. She shares her poems with Esperanza.

    Once a young man hoped to study law and he wrote to Lincoln for advice, who lived most of his adult life as a practicing lawyer. Lincoln replied, "If you make up your mind to make a lawyer of yourself, the thing is more than half done already. Always keep in mind that your own decision to succeed is more important than any other thing."

    Lincoln knew this because he had gone through it all. He had never, in his life，had more than a total of one year's schooling. And books? Lincoln once said he had walked to borrow every book fifty miles away from his home. A fire was usually kept going all night in the small house and he read by the light of it.

    He walked twenty or thirty miles to hear a speaker and, returning home, he practiced his talks everywhere—in the fields, in the woods, before the crowds. He joined several societies and practiced speaking on the topics of the day.

    Being short of confidence always troubled him. He was shy before women. Even when he was in love with Mary Todd, he used to sit there, nervous and silent, unable to find words, listening while she did the talking. Yet that was the man who, by practice and home study, made himself into a famous speaker with great eloquence(雄辩).

    When he spoke of his own great painful experiences, he wrote, "If you make up your mind to make a lawyer of yourself, the thing is more than half done already."

    "Today I will give you a special test," said the English teacher with a smile on his face.

    All the students sat up straight and waited for the test to begin. The teacher began to give the test papers to all the students. After he finished handing out the test papers, he asked them to begin.

    The students were very surprised to see that there was not a question but a black dot (圆点) in the center of the paper. The teacher noticed the students' surprise and said, "I want you to write about what you see there." At the end of the class, the teacher took all the students' answer sheets and read the answers. All of them described the black dot. After reading all the answers, the teacher said, "Here everyone only paid attention to the black dot, but no one wrote about the white paper." The whole class listened silently, because they were afraid to fail in the exam. Then the teacher said, "Don't worry about your marks for this test. I just want you to think about our life. The white paper is like our whole life and the black dot in the center of the paper represents (代表) problems in our daily life".

    Our life is a gift given to us by God, with love and care. However, we just pay attention to the problems like illness and poverty, and never see happy things in our life. So we should try to solve our problems and enjoy each moment life gives us.