The Aborigines (澳洲土著) have lived in Australia for about 60,000 years. They painted pictures inside caves, and these are the rock paintings that have given us so much information about Aboriginal life. For example, some of the paintings that are about 10,000 years old show men with boomerangs. From this we know that the Aborigines started using boomerangs for hunting at that time. Other pictures show kangaroos, so we know that there were kangaroos at that time.

    The Aborigines believed that spirits made people, animals and plants, and that these spirits still live in the earth. For Aborigines, no one can own the earth—the earth belongs to the spirits.
    In 1700, there were many Aboriginal groups with a population of 750,000 all over Australia, and there were probably more than 240 different Aboriginal languages. The groups did not have a leader. Instead, things were decided by the older men in a group. People from different groups often travelled hundreds of miles to meet each other.
    Aboriginal life changed when an English boat arrived in Australia in 1770. Many Aborigines were killed in the wars that they had with the English. More Europeans came, and they started taking land from the Aborigines. The Europeans also brought new illnesses that killed the Aborigines. The result is that today there are only about 300,000 Aborigines in Australia.

This is my first time in Japan. One day some new colleagues invited me to eat out. At first, I felt quite pleased and learnt to use chopsticks with them, but later the problems started.

My cold was not quite finished and my nose was still running a little so I took out a tissue (纸巾)，turned away from the table and blew my nose(抠鼻涕). My colleagues, who were talking

about how to arrange (安排) the final exams of pupils, were looking at me strangely. They explained to me that in Japan, people don't blow their noses in public especially at the table.

When I was trying to stick my chopsticks in my bowl of rice, one of my colleagues said, “Don't do that. Just leave them on the table.” Later, I found that leaving your chopsticks in your rice means death in Japanese culture!

The next time I needed to blow my nose, I left the table and went to the toilet. When I returned, it was nearly time to leave. I noticed there were some little bowls of tea with lemon next to everybody's place on the table. It was hot, and I started drinking it before it got cold. Then I noticed some of my friends were covering their mouths and looking at each other. They were trying not to laugh. “What's wrong?” I asked the friend next to me. “That's not for drinking,” he explained. “It's for washing your fingers.” For a moment, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

    Different countries have different customs. When you are in different countries, you should follow their customs.

    In China, it's impolite to talk when eating dinner. And you're not supposed to start eating first if there are older people at the table.

    Very often people who travel to the United States forget to tip(付小费). It is usual to tip waiters, taxi drivers and porters who help carry your bags. Waiters expect to get a 15% tip on the cost of your meal. Taxi drivers expect about the same amount.

    In England, make sure to stand in line even if there are only two of you. It's important to respect lines there. It's a good idea to talk about the weather. It's a favorite subject of conversation with the British.

    In Spain, it's a good idea to have a light meal in the afternoon if someone invites you for dinner. People have dinner very late, and restaurants are not generally open until after 9:00 pm.

    In Saudi Arabia (沙特阿拉伯), men kiss one another on the cheek (脸颊). Your host may welcome you with a kiss on both cheeks. It is polite for you to do the same.

    In Japan, people usually give personal or business cards to each other when they meet for the first time. When a person gives you a card, don't put it into your pocket as soon as you get it. The person expects you to read it.

    Don't forget to be careful of your body language to express something in conversations. A kind of body language that is acceptable in one culture may be impolite in another.

    As we know, there are differences between western culture and Chinese culture. We can see differences when we pay attention to the way words are used. Let's look at the words about animals and plants. Most expressions in Chinese about dogs, for example, a homeless dog, a mad dog and a dog catching a mouse, have negative meanings. But in western countries, dogs are thought to be honest and good friends of humans. In English, people use the dog to describe positive actions. For example, you are a lucky dog means you are a lucky person. And every dog has its day means each person has good luck sometimes. To describe a person's serious illness, they say sick as a dog. The word dog-tired means very tired. However, Chinese love cats very much. But in western culture, cat is often used to describe a woman who is cruel.

    The rose is regarded as a symbol of love in both China and some western countries. People think the rose means love, peace, courage and friendship. And the rose is the national flower of England, America and many other countries.

    The words about plants and animals are used in positive or negative ways in different cultures. We can learn about many differences in cultures by comparing how some words are used.