When Charles Lee handed me the small red notebook in 1974, he changed my life. “While you are traveling, you should keep notes of things you see and do,” he explained.

    I was 20 years old, a junior in college, spending a term at the University of London. Charles was a retired traveling salesman. I was staying with him in his cottage in Kendal, located in the Lake District of northern England. It was a one-week homestay the university arranged for us before classes began.

    I took his advice. I wrote in the notebook every day during the homestay. Back in London, I recorded weekend trips to Wales, Yorkshire, France, and Spain. I commented on my classes, professors, and classmates. I contrasted my life at a small college in the US with my wandering through the streets of London, my introduction to life in a big city, and my initial travels outside the US. I tracked ideas I had about my life and my future.

    When I wrote in the notebook, I struggled with a sense of my audience and purpose. Who would read this? Were these writings just for me, or did I want others to read them? Was I recording events and ideas just as a prompt(提示) to memory, or was there some larger purpose for this daily exercise?

    I knew I was recording events, thoughts, words that were important to my life. I imagined a future me sitting down to read the pages. I wondered what it would feel like to read those words later. I wondered where I would be and what my life would be like.

    I filled the notebook Charles gave me. I bought a new one and filled it. Then another and another. I continued writing in notebooks for four decades. By that time, they filled two boxes in my garage.

    I had reread some of the journals. Specific volumes had provided me with the background I needed for dozens of articles for magazines. But I had never read them all. Recently, I decided to bring my collection of notebooks into my office and replay my life. As I opened the first box, I suddenly became nervous would I like the former me described on those pages? There was a risk in opening that first notebook. I did it anyway.

    Charles had been right. I remembered the big events and the central happenings, but on each page were many details I hadn't retained(保留).

    The pages revealed highlights from college classes and stories about roommates and friends. I read anxious comments I'd written as I'd launched my teaching career, learned to write lesson plants, assigned grades for student work, and solved discipline problems. I reflected on my coming marriage, then the wedding, and eventually the proud moments when I held each of my three girls as a father. I recounted more trips—returning to Europe, teaching in South America, going on safari(游猎) in Africa, and exploring Greenland. I relived memories of trails hit, rivers crossed, and mountains climbed.

    The writings in those journals framed my life. I hadn't written every day. I often skipped a few days or even weeks, but I always picked up the writing when it felt important. Journals went with me when I traveled, and I often wrote in them at school when my own students were writing.

    It took several long evenings to read through the notebooks, taking me on tour spanning(持续) 42 years. As I read I could recall sitting on a bench in Trafalgar Square in London or in our apartment in Peru to write to the future me. It was then that I realized: I am now the person I was writing to throughout those years.

    Australia's koalas could die out within 30 years unless immediate action is taken to stop the losing in population, according to researchers. They say development, climate change and bushfires have all combined to reduce the number of wild koalas sharply.

    The Australian Koala Foundation said a recent survey showed the population could have dropped by more than half in the past six years. The number of koalas was once estimated to be more than 100,000, but now is as few as 43,000.

    The foundation collected field data from 1,800 sites and 80,000 trees to calculate the numbers. In one area in northern Queensland estimated to have 20,000 koalas a decade ago, a team of eight people could not find a single animal in four days of searching.

    The foundation said besides problems caused by cutting down forests, hotter and drier conditions because of global warming had reduced the nutritional value of their main food, eucalyptus (桉树) leaves, leading to poor nutrition for them. Koalas, which live in the forests in Australia's east and south, are very picky about what types of the leaves they eat.

    Foundation chief Deborah Tabart said: “The koalas are missing everywhere we look. It's really no tree, no me. If you keep cutting down trees you don't have any koalas.”She is hoping the new figures will persuade the government's Threatened Species Steering Committee (TSSC) to list the koala as threatened. But committee chairman Bob Beeton said a decision was not likely recently and the koala's status as one of the country's favorite animals would not be a factor. “There's a number of species which are attractive and people have special feelings towards them. We don't consider that,” Mr Beeton said.

    It's not often you get information about a destination from a heavy metal band, but in Debrecen, Hungary's second largest city, locals are used to having to make a noise to get heard.

    Just off the historic center, Roncs bar is a pub that also hosts live music.  It has the atmosphere of a student party in an old building that might soon be knocked down.

    Roncs is owned by Hungary's best-known heavy metal rock band, Tankcsapda. Sometimes referred to as the “Hungarian Metallica", the band has taken a type of music that is famous worldwide and-through lyrics, album covers, and an annual New Year's party and concert-made it all about their home city.

    It's perhaps fitting that Tankcsapda should be seen as ambassadors for Debrecen-the city sometimes needs loud heavy metal rock music to get noticed. “Foreigners think that Hungary is Budapest and there's nothing else,” is a familiar saying on Debrecen's:streets.

    Debrecen has, at times, been more important than the current seat of power, with locals claiming it takes over in times of trouble.

    That doesn't quite add up.

    Debrecen survived an attack from the Mongols in the 13th century, the Black Death, 150 years of struggle against the Ottomans and numerous conflicts, and yet it has still only briefly been the country's capital twice. This happened for the first time after a short-lived revolution in 1849, and for a second time at the end of World War II.

    Today, Debrecen may not be well known to tourists, but that only adds to the charm of this relaxed city. It's a small place; the historical center is sized for strolling (散步) and regular cafe stops. There's also a view of Debrecen's mix of architectural styles, a result of the frequent large fires that back in the 19th century led the city's students to form one of Europe's first-ever fire brigades (消防队).

    You can also see traditional weathercocks from the rooftops, featuring Islamic star and crescent moon symbols that once advertised to Ottoman invaders that the city preferred trading to fighting.

    Trade meant that Debrecen's skilled people became very successful and the city became famous for-among other things-fine foods, hats and clay pipes. In the early 19th century, 10 million clay pipes were reportedly made a year, with thousands bought for Britain's navy.

    While Chongqing is most famous for its hot pot, chuanchuan, and noodles, there is one more indispensable, delicious food offered to people in Chongqing: the fish.

    Huguo Hot­Potted Corydoras

    Perhaps Chongqing's best­loved fish restaurant, Huguo Hot­Potted Corydoras has been going for decades and is a can't­miss place for most visitors because of its special flavor. When the pot is served, you will be surprised by its look and stunned by its fragrance. The combination of the great local cuisine and low price makes this a very popular place, particularly in the evening.

    Average price per person: 78 RMB

    Address: No. 62­1, Shangda Tianwan, Yuzhong District (470m from the Gate 6 of Lianglukou Station) Xiang Yu

    Xiang Yu is a Chinese­style restaurant and extremely popular among local people for serving great fish dishes, particularly the signature Steamed Fish Head with Chopped Hot Chili. Since the dish is steamed, the hot chili flavor permeates the flesh.Just use chopsticks to dip a bit of it into the sauce and you'll find its tenderness and robust taste.

    Average price per person: 80 RMB

    Address: F4, Block C, Longfor Shidai Paradise, Changjiang 2nd Road Jipinxuan Beidu Fish Village.

    Established in Chongqing about 20 years ago, all the fish served here is prepared in one of 3 flavors total: hot­spicy, pickled, and tomato.Or, if you're up to try it, you can ask the friendly chef to blend these 3 flavors into one dish.One thing of note: the number of appetizers you get for free depends on how many fish you order.

    Average price per person: 61 RMB

    Address: No. 42, Changjiang 2nd Road, Daping Ran's Bean Salted Fish Hot­pot.

    Serving fish since the 1980's, and maintaining high quality on all terms, the restaurant's reputation has grown among the people of Chongqing. Don't judge this book by its cover, and don't let the modest decoration scare you off, the food is super delicious! The fish is stir fried in oil, which makes the skin crispy and fresh. The dish is also covered with dripping sauces, providing fragrant aromas and strong, lasting flavors.

    Average price per person: 46 RMB

    Address: Opposite of Zaoqin Village, Shipingqiao Street, Jiulongpo District (Near Sanxia Paints Company)

    Olympic National Park, with its temperate rainforests and breath-taking views, exerts a natural pull on many Pacific Northwestemers. But Seattle writer Rosette Royale found it repellent. To Royale, the park seemed like a damp, dirty and unpleasant place. "I couldn't figure out why anyone would want to carry a 50-pound pack into the wilderness and camp there for days," he said. "It didn't make sense."

    Then he met Bryant Carlin, a vendor (小贩) for Real Change, the Seattle weekly sold on the street by vendors who are homeless or low-wage earners. He was also a skilled outdoorsman and a nature photographer who would take weeks-long photographic journeys to the park. The two men connected in the fall of 2011 when Royale interviewed Carlin for a feature story in Real Change about Carlin's photography.

    That first time they met—and for years afterward—Carlin invited Royale to go camping with him. Each time, Royale said "Thanks, but no thanks." Until one day, in the spring of 2015, Royale surprised himself by saying yes. "Little did I know," said Royale, "that saying 'yes' would change the course of my life."

    Royale and Carlin went on five separate journeys to the Olympic wilderness. They camped in spring, summer, fall and winter. For Royale, the trips were exhausting and terrifying. But the trips were also inspiring, and helped Royale—a black, strange man—to develop a relationship with the outdoors that he had never experienced before.

    For Carlin, the trips were an opportunity to throw off the label of "homeless". In Olympic National Park, sleeping outside just means you're a camper. But there was one aspect of Carlin's life in the city that he couldn't escape: alcohol abuse. While he never brought beer on their camping journeys, the effects of years of drinking weren't so easy to leave behind.

It began on a cold rainy day in an alley (小巷) outside Lagos. But 11-year-old Anthony Mmesoma Madu from Nigeria seemed 1 , dancing barefoot across puddles (坑), jumping, and turning around. His2 took a quick video, 3 it on social media, and went back to teaching.

Then the 4 of "likes" and "shares" filled these few simple seconds with the potential (潜力) of 5 a new life. Actress Viola Davis saw the video and 6 , "It reminds me of the 7 of my people. We create, soar, imagine, have great passion, and love...despite the difficulties that have been put in front of us. Our people can 8 !!!"

In the past few weeks, some 15 million people from around the globe watched, fascinated, as Anthony danced across the puddles. Thanks to this support, he received a 9 to study virtually with some of the world's best ballet dancers a at New York's American Dance Theatre.

Famous male ballet dancer Calvin Royal Ⅲ was also 10 by Anthony's dancing. He offered help and 11 Anthony and his classmates. He told the young dancers, "You are not only 12 your world there in Africa but you re changing the minds of many people.

Many people in Anthony's community have never seen a 13 dancing ballet before. He told BBC, "When my friends see me dancing, they are 14 ," ‘What is this boy doing? Is he doing a foreign dance?' Where I Where I live there are no male ballet dancers like me.

But now, his love of dancing is 15 for Anthony, his incredible teacher, his classmates, future Nigerian dancers as well as boys who love ballet.