I am 22. I used to work in a hotel. It was boring.

One day a guest and I had a conversation. She asked me, "Do you like your job?" I was sad because I knew the answer. "No".

     She was 74 and gave me the most beautiful advice that I remember in all my life:"You are too young to hate your job, young man. Go to get your passport and start your adventure(冒险 ). "

     So I did.

     Since I was a little kid I was dreaming to know Europe. So next day I had my passport. And one week later, my plane tickets.

     It was impossible to have a long holiday.  So I resigned(辞职).  My boss said I was crazy. My friends said that I was not responsible. I just paid no attention to those voices.

     It was Europe in winter. Not the best time to travel there. But Europe in winter is really cheap.

     I packed some books, a camera, 4 shirts, 2 pants, a coat, gloves, 2 pairs of walking shoes, candies and music to give away.

       I had little money.  I just walked and walked.  I went to high mountains and big cities. I saw some beautiful sunsets(日落). I heard some of the best musicians (for free). I discovered that there was still love in the world. I realized that sunrises are not always blue or yellow. Sometimes they mix.

      I spent 22 days and $1,500 (including the plane tickets). What I did to save money:

      1. Used CouchSur fing(沙发客 ).

      2. Ate 20-cents bread.

      3. Went to Burger King to get free potato chips and water.

      4. Learned to cook.

      5. Talked with local(当地的) people.  They always know where to do cool and cheap stuff(事儿).

      6. Only went to free museums (only in England).

      Until this point in my life, I never had a clear idea of how to deal with my life. Now I do. I want to be a photographer so that I can inspire(激励) people with my pictures. Thanks to this travel. Thanks to that lady.

    Several days ago, I was walking home from school and saw some writing on the fence of a house I was passing by. It said, “Happiness is a direction, not a destination (终点).” I had been having a bad day and just reading this brightened my day a little. I also took out a pen and wrote one of my favorite quotes (格言) down.

    When I came back to the fence, I saw another quote under mine in the handwriting as the first one. I added another, and we kept at this pattern for quite a while. One day, I was writing another quote on the fence and the old man, one of my neighbors, who owned the fence, saw me. He came out and I was afraid he would be mad at me for writing on his fence; he was not known to be very friendly. He gave me a sharp glance and then read the quotes on the fence. Without saying a word, he said something to himself and then went back inside. I was a bit terrified for a while, afraid to go back to the fence, but when I did, I noticed not more quotes but two words in entirely different handwriting had been added, “Thank you.”

    Later, I saw the old man in his front yard. He beckoned (召唤) me over and told me how my quotes had been inspiring him, how he thanked me and how he was glad to see young people still have “values”. We are now good friend and I talk to him a lot. This experience has changed my life. I still don't know who wrote that very first quote, but if he is out there, I'd like to say “thanks” to that unknown friend.

    Once there lived a rich man called King. He loved chatting(聊天) very much. Every day he had his men do all the housework, so he had enough time to chat with others.

    One summer afternoon, his friend Bruce invited him to his birthday party. King kept on chatting at table. Later, all the other friends had left, but he didn't notice it. Bruce was worried, because he had just received a call from his sister and he would go to the station to meet her. But King didn't say goodbye to him, and he went on chatting.

    At that time, King's wife came in and asked her husband, "Would you like a roast(烤制) bird, dear?"

    "Of course," King answered, "but where is it?"

    "I heard a bird singing in the big tree outside just now," said the woman. "I want it to be the last dish. I'll cut the tree down. "

    "But I'm afraid it will fly away when you begin to cut the tree," said King.

    "Don't worry about it, dear," the woman said with a smile. "It is a foolish(愚蠢的) bird. It doesn't know when to leave."

    Uncle Li and Uncle Wang are good friends. They live next to each other and their farms are both at the foot of the mountain. So they can help each other. But neither of them likes to use his head. They're both poor though they work hard. Most villagers have built new houses，but they still live in the low and broken houses. They never find out why.

    Once Uncle Li went to town to buy some medicine for his wife. In the town he heard the apples in a city were expensive. He told Uncle Wang about it as soon a she went back. They decided to carry some apples to the city. They borrowed some money from their friends and bought nearly 1, 000 kilograms of apples in the villages and carried them to the city on a tractor. Bad luck！A lot of apples have already been carried there when they arrived. A few days later they had to sell them at a low price. They felt unhappy and returned to their village.

    "I can't understand why we sustained（蒙受）losses in business while others always profit（盈利）. "Uncle Li asked one day.

    "The tractor was too small，"Uncle Wang said without thinking. "We'll carry more apples on a truck next time！"

    "I agree!" said Uncle Li. "How foolish we were!"

A group of people in my city spend their free time cleaning up the countryside. They look after the places such as fields, rivers and forests. Before my last birthday, I was not to join them because I was too young, I have to be at least thirteen years old. and now I am.

    On the first Sunday of every month we spend hours making the countryside a good place for animals, Often people are the cause of the problems. They find a great place of a picnic. But they do not take their rubbish home with them, The rubbish looks ugly and it not good for wild animals.

    However, nature also sometimes makes life difficult for some animals, Last Sunday, we spent all afternoon clearing overgrown(杂草丛生的)plants from a river. Now the water is flowing freely again. The fish can swim along without anything in their way.

    Some of our work does not bring changes so quickly. New trees will take several years to grow before they are big and strong. Birds can build homes on them then, but it is nice to know that we are trying to help.