Jane Eyre

    Jane Eyre, a novel written by Charlotte Bronte, was published in 1847 in England. It is Charlotte Bronte's most famous book. Jane Eyre is a love story. It tells about a young and independent woman called Jane Eyre, who is brave enough to pursue her own love.

Uncle Tom's Cabin

    Uncle Tom's Cabin is an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. Published in 1852, the novel “helped lay the base for the Civil War”, according to Will Kaufman. When Abraham Lincoln met Stowe at the start of the Civil War, Lincoln declared, “So it is the little lady who started this great war.” The character of Uncle Tom in the novel is a longsuffering black slave. The sad novel exposes the reality of slavery.

Gone with the Wind

    Gone with the Wind is a novel by Margaret Mitchell in 1936. It tells the story of Scarlett O'Hara, and her adventures in the American South during the Civil War. She falls in love with Rhett Butler, a city gentleman. It is one of the most famous books of its time, and was made into a movie with the same name. The title took its name from the lines an Ernest Dowson poem: “I have forgotten much, Cynara! Gone with the wind.” (This line also appears in the book.) The book won the Pulitzer Prize on May 3,1937.

Rich Dad Poor Dad

    Rich Dad Poor Dad is a book by Robert Kiyosaki and Sharon Lechter. In the story, Robert's own father was the superintendent (厅长) of education in Hawaii and end up dying penniless. His best friend's father dropped out of school at age 13 and went on to become one of the wealthiest men in Hawaii. It advocates financial independence through investing, real estate (地产), owning businesses, and the use of finance protection tactics.

    What happened to that brilliant idea that you once had? Did you ignore it because you thought that it was just a little thought? Have you ever considered what that little thought would have become if you had acted on your instincts(本能) or if you had paid more attention to it?

    Imagine a scene, where you are sitting at home watching television or reading a book, suddenly a light bulb is turned on in the dark tunnel of your mind as a thought or an idea crosses your mind. The thought catches your attention but seems so meaningless and you are tempted to abandon it, but wait a minute!

    That thought could be the potential beginning of the success you have so much wished for. As the thought crosses your mind, your senses become alert and you suddenly see a possibility, a solution, or find the answer to a problem whose solution has long escaped you.

    It is almost as if a wise man has whispered the perfect solution into your ear or awakened your senses to a reality, thereby bringing light to your life. It is like finding the last piece of jigsaw puzzle(拼图游戏). This becomes an amazing moment and everything freezes around you as you excitedly try to grasp the practicality of that little but powerful thought.

    Your self-confidence and enthusiasm increase as you become conscious of the great possibilities that can arise if that little thought is acted upon. This becomes the moment to build upon that thought and to put down any ideas that are streaming from that little thought for later review.

    Seemingly meaningless little thoughts or ideas when acted upon have a potential to explode into great projects.

    Many successful projects have been born from the little positive thoughts that were carefully protected and recognized as tickets to great things.

You may have heard people say many times that it just came to me in a flash moment, a small idea or seemingly meaningless thought may cross your mind about something you have been planning to accomplish.

    Don't waste an opportunity to act on a potentially brilliant idea. You don't have to wait for a major idea, or approval from your peers in order for you to act on that little thought. That little thought or idea is the beginning of great things if you decide to follow it through.

    As a gesture of friendship，Mayor Yukio Ozaki of Tokyo，Japan gave Washington, D.C a gift of more than 3,000 Japanese cherry trees on March 17,1912.Every spring, the cherry trees in Washington，D.C. take bloom(开花)，beginning one of the country's loveliest celebrations, the National Cherry Blossom Festival (March 17-April 15). Book your trip now to see this vibrant display of pink and white in this city full of history!

    Washington, D.C. Cherry Blossom In-Depth Tour

    Priee: $45/person

    Available: Mar.25-Apr.15

    Duration: 1 Day

    Highlights: Visit Washington， D.C.; experience the peak period of cherry blossom(April 8-12)

    Itinerary: Guests will start to celebrate the National Cherry Blossom Festival and discover the beauty of cherry blossoms. Next,we will begin our sightseeing city tour including Lincoln Memorial, White House, US Capitol, Madame Tussauds Wax Museum, Washington Monument and International Spy Museum. Then visit the next tourist spot, the Jefferson Memorial. It's the best location to view the cherry blossoms. Finally, guests may board a Potomac River cruise to see the city from the water. Then tour ends.

    Price Includes: Ground Transportation

    Admission Fees:

    Note: If you would like to join in the optional activities, please pay the fee in cash to the tour guide. You cannot buy the tickets on your own or use City Pass. The tour guide will arrange the tickets for the group.

    One spring day, once the flowers have begun to open, a bee will hover (盘旋) and zip through your yard and dive-bomb your picnic table. While you're thinking about avoiding an attack, that bee is focused on something else entirely: me.

    A honeybee has about six weeks to live. Today, like most days, her task is to fly as many as three miles from home, stick her long, straw-like tongue into a hundred or so flowers. When the bee has had her fill, shell fly home. There the bee will deposit what she has got into the mouth of one of her co-workers, who will relay it to another, and so on for about 20 minutes, until the mixture is ready to be placed into the comb. Then she and her 50 000 or so mates will hover in the dark all night every night, flapping their wings to create hot, breezy conditions to remove the water from the mixture. Several sunrises later, they will seal me off in a golden cell of beeswax. In her lifetime, our bee may visit 4, 000 flowers, and yet will produce only one-twelfth of a tea spoon of me.

    The average American consumes nearly a pound and a half of me every year, in tea, on toast, and beyond. If I do say so myself, I am a timeless treasure. Literally—I never go bad.

    Alas, my good health is not guaranteed. The problem lies in the growth of industrial agriculture and the use of pest control chemicals, as well as changes in weather patterns, all of which reduce the number of flowers bees have to visit I'd appreciate your letting your own garden grow just a little wild My future depends on all of us fostering spring and summers wild flowers, thus helping the bees, who give so much—to you, to me—without ever asking for anything in return.

    In Mexico, girls mark their fifteenth birthday with a celebration called Quinceanera. In the morning, the birthday girl goes to the church with her family and her best friends. She wears a beautiful dress. Later in the day, there is a huge party, with a big cake that matches the girl's dress, and a night filled with music and dancing.

    Becoming an adult is a very important life change, and Japan has a special holiday to celebrate this. The second Sunday in January is Coming-of-Age Day. On that day, everyone who had their twentieth birthday in the last year goes to their Town Hall for a special activity. Everyone dresses up, and many women wear beautiful dresses. The mayor makes a speech and gives presents to all the new adults.

    Some kids are afraid to start school, but six-year-olds in Germany can't wait. For them, Schulanfang is a big holiday. To celebrate a child's first day of school, parents or friends give the child a Zuckertuete, a big color box filled with candy and little presents. People take pictures of the kids holding their Zuckertuete, and there is a school party later for the parents with cake and coffee.

Dickens House Museum

Type: Historic House / Palace

Address: 2 Victoria Parade, Broadstairs, Kent, CT10 1QS

About

Dickens House Museum, Broadstairs celebrates Charles Dickens' long connection with Broadstairs from 1837 to 1851, through personal items and letters. Guided tours available.

The museum is housed in the cottage that was Charles Dickens' inspiration for the home of Betsey Trotwood in David Copperfield. David's description of Betsey's cottage with its square gravelled garden full of flowers, and a parlour of old fashioned furniture still fits today.

The character Betsy Trotwood is based on Miss Mary Pearson Strong who lived in the cottage that is now the museum. According to the reminiscences of Charles Dickens' son Charley, he and his father regularly had tea and cakes in the parlour (会客室) with the kindly and charming Miss Mary Pearson Strong. He also remembers that Miss Pearson Strong was completely convinced of her right to stop the passage of donkeys along the cliff top in front of her cottage. This belief became the donkey incident for the character of Betsy Trotwood, with the famous quote: "Janet! Donkeys!"

Spread over four floors, the Charles Dickens Museum holds the world's most important collection of paintings, rare editions, manuscripts, original furniture and other items relating to the life and work of Dickens. Perhaps the best-known exhibit is the portrait of Dickens known as Dickens' Dream by R. W. Buss, an original illustrator of The Pickwick Papers. This unfinished portrait shows Dickens in his study at Gads Hill Place surrounded by many of the characters he had created.

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