Dear Mike，

      I'm so glad you're coming to China! Your mother，our foreign English teacher，told me you're worried about what you should and shouldn't do as a guest in China．Here's some advice．You will probably be invited to a big meal. You may find it earlier than you expect because Chinese people eat dinner much earlier than people in the West．There will be a lot of different dishes，not just three courses．You may find it difficult to use chopsticks if you haven't tried before．It's a good idea to get some practice．When the food is served，you should take time to look at it. The preparation takes a long time and everything will look beautiful．The plates will be placed in the middle of the table，for everyone to share．Take a little of everything and then have some more of the things you like．Chinese people like to talk about food，so it's a good topic of conversation．At the end of the meal，you will usually be served with fruit．Eat your fruit，thank your friends， and go．

      I hope this is helpful．E-mail me if you have any other questions． 

                                                                                                                              Yours，

                                                                                                                                   David Zhang

    Do you know what the White House is? Perhaps some of you do，while others don't.

    The White House is a house in Washington. The president of the U.S.A. lives in it. It's really white. But do you know why the White House is white? The story happened in 1812. That year England was at war with America. The British army got to Washington and set the president's house on fire. In 1814，in order to hide the marks of the fire，the stone walls of the president's house were painted white and it has been the “White House” ever since.

    One day an American called Simon went to London to visit his friend, Rick. Rick told him that his flat was on the first floor. When he arrived, Simon went straight to the first floor of the building. But he was told that there was no Rick on that floor. Do you know why?

    In fact, the British call the first floor of a building the ground floor. The floor above the ground floor is the first floor, while Americans would call it the second floor.

    The story shows that there are a few culture differences between Britain and America, though the British and Americans both speak English.

    The British usually hide their feelings. They seldom start a conversation with strangers. For example, on the train the British often spend their time reading newspapers or books. But Americans are quite different. They're more active and easier to talk with.

    The British and Americans may use different terms for many things. The British usually use “football”, “eraser” and “mail” while Americans prefer to use “soccer”, “rubber” and “post”.

    The Mid-Autumn Festival is a very important Chinese festival. It falls on the 15th day of the eighth month of lunar calendar. A few days before the festival, everyone in the family will help to make the house clean and beautiful. Lanterns will be hung in front of the house.

    On the evening of the festival there will be a big family dinner. People who work far away from their homes will try to come back for the reunion (团聚). After dinner, people will light the lanterns which are usually bright and round. Children will play with their own toy lanterns happily.

    At night the moon is usually round and bright. People can enjoy the moon while eating mooncakes which are the special food for this festival.

Father's Day is celebrated on the third Sunday of June in the US and the UK. Sonora Smart Dodd, a loving daughter from Spokane, had the good idea that society must celebrate a day to honour fathers, because they make important contributions to the raising of children.

    People celebrate the festival by honouring their fathers and expressing love to them by giving popular gifts like cards, flowers, chocolate and ties. Little children often give handmade gifts to their dads.