Living in the foreign culture can be exciting, but it can also be confusing. A group of Americans who taught English in other countries recently discussed their experiences. They discussed that miscommunications were always possible, even over something as simple as “yes”and“no”.
     On her first day in Micronesia, an island in the Pacific, Lisa thought the waitress wasn't paying any attention to her. The day was hot she went into a store and asked, "Do you have any cold drinks?" The woman there didn't say anything. Lisa repeated the question again. Still the woman said nothing. She later learned that the woman had answered her: She has raised her eyebrows, which in Micronesia, it means, "yes".
     Jan remembered an experience she had in Bulgaria, a country in Europe. She went to a restaurant that was known for its cabbage. She asked the writer,“Do you have cabbage today?”He nodded his head. Jan waited, but the cabbage never came. In that country, a nod means "no".
     Tom had a similar problem when he arrived in India. After explaining something in class, he asked his students if they understood. They answered with different nods and shakes of heads. He thought some people hadn't understood, so he explained again. When he asked again, they did the same thing. He soon found out that his students did understand. In India, people nod and shake heads in different ways. It depends on where they come from.

    My grandfather is eighty years old now．He always complains about how fast things have changed, and he often says that life used to be better．

    Families aren't families they used to be．A lot of families have broken up．If husband and wife have problems with their marriage, they no longer stay together．And mothers used to stay at home and take care of their children, but now not any more．Everyone is busy working．Mother used to spend all day cooking in the kitchen．But now the family don't eat home-cooked food any more．

    And the cars! No one walks any more．More and more people drive．Students used to walk 5 miles to school every day, even in winter．But now students don't．And in school, children don't have to think any more．In math class, for example, they used to add, subtract, multiply and divide(加减乘除)in their heads．Instead, they use calculators(计算器)．

    And people today have TV and computers, and they don't talk to each other any more．They are too busy to talk, too busy to eat, too busy to think…．

    Life used to be simple, but it isn't any more．

    Although half a century has passed, Shao Guohua never forgot the film ticket his teacher gave him that warmed his heart when he was a boy.  Shao entered primary school in Zigong, Sichuan Province, in 1960, Back then, sports and watching movies were the students' favorite times.

    Once, the school organized a trip to the movies for the students, and many of Shao's classmates signed (签约)  up for it.  But the boy had no money to buy the 0. 05-yuau ticket. When his classmates lined up to enter the movie theater, the boy stood alone outside. Then Shao's Chinese teacher Mo Xunru saw him and bought a ticket for him.

    He can't remember what movie it was, but Shao never stopped being thankful to his teacher. “Ms. Mo made forty or fifty yuan a month back then, so a 0.05-yuan ticket may not be a big deal for her. But for me, it moved me deeply,” said 63-year-old Shao.

    After graduating from primary school, Shao moved to another city along with his parents. In the following years, he tried to find his former teachers and classmates, but failed. It wasn't until this year that Shao visited his teacher Mo Xunru after 50 years.

    “The reunion (重聚) was emotional,” said Shao, who is over sixty himself now. “The 89-year old Mo did not hear well anymore and seemed to not know me at first sight, but she was still as kind as she used to be.” Shaoleft 1, 000 yuan to his teacher as well as a letter which reads: “Dear Ms. Mo, wish you good health. Your student: Shao Guohua.”

    The Kings lived in a small house in New York with their child. Sometimes Mr. King came back from work very late. When his wife and the child were asleep, he opened the front door of his house with his key and came in very quietly.

    But one night when he was coming home late, he lost his key. So when he reached his home, he rang the bell. Nothing happened. He rang it again. Again nothing happened. Nobody moved inside the house. Mr. King knocked at the bedroom window. He spoke to his wife, he shouted, but she didn't wake up. At last he stopped and thought for a minute. Then he began to speak like a small child. "Mother," he said, "I want to go to the toilet." He spoke quietly, but at once, Mrs. King woke up. Then he spoke to her, and she opened the door for him.

    Mr and Mrs Green lived in a big city. Last summer, they went to a country for their holiday. They enjoyed it very much because it was a quiet, clean place.

    One day they went for a walk early in the morning and met an old man. He lived on a farm, and he was sitting in the warm sun in front of his house. Mr Green asked him. "Do you like to live in this quiet place?''

    The old man said, "Yes, I do."

    Mr Green said, "What are the good things about it?"

    The old man answered, "Well, the people here know each other. They often come and visit me, and I often go and visit them. And there are also lots of children here. "

    Mr Green said, "That's interesting. And what are the bad things?"

    The old man thought for a moment and then said,

"Well, the same things, really. ''

    Mr. and Mrs. Black opened a small restaurant. In order to attract (吸引) customers, they put a notice in front of the restaurant that said "Meals on the House for Three Days."

    A foreign student who didn't know much English happened to pass by the restaurant on the second day. It was lunch time and he felt very hungry. "Well, here is a restaurant. I am going to have something to eat."

    He walked towards the restaurant when he saw the notice. "American people are really strange. They even eat dinners on their houses. But how can I get up to the top of the house?" he said to himself.

    He looked around and found a ladder against a tree nearby. He started climbing up. But as he reached the top，he heard someone shouting at him.

    "Hey, what are you doing up there?" Mr. Black shouted at him. Next to him was a policeman.

    "Doesn't your notice say? "Meals on the House for Three Days'? Is it just a joke?" the foreign student answered.

    On hearing this, both Mr. Black and the policeman laughed. "Do you know what ON THE HOUSE means? Look it up in the dictionary," the policeman said.