When I was 8 years old, I decided to run away from home after a quarrel with my mother. With my suitcase packed and some sandwiches in a bag, I started for the front door.

     My mom asked where I was going. “I'm leaving home,” I said.

     “What's that you're carrying?” she asked.

     “Some clothes and food,” I replied.

     “If you want to run away, that's all right,” she said. “But you came into this home without anything and you can leave the same way.”

     I threw my suitcase and sandwiches on the floor and started for the door again.

     “Wait a minute,” Mom said. “You didn't have any clothes on when you arrived, and I want them back.”

 This infuriated me. I tore my clothes off — shoes, socks, underwear and all — and shouted, “Can I go now?”

     “Yes,” my mom answered, “but once you close that door, don't expect to come back.”

     I was so angry that I shut the door forcefully and stepped out of my home. Then I noticed down the street two neighbor girls walking toward our house. I was so shy that I saw the big spruce (云杉) tree in our yard and jumped under the low-hanging branches. A pile of dried-up brown needles were beneath the tree, and you can't imagine the pain those sharp needles caused to my body.

     After I was sure the girls had passed by, I ran to the front door and knocked at it loudly.

     “It's Billy! Let me in!”

     The voice behind the door answered, “Billy doesn't live here anymore. He ran away from home.”

     Looking behind me to see if anyone else was coming down the street, I said, “Mom! I'm sorry. I'm still your son. Let me in!”

     The door opened and Mom's smiling face appeared. “Did you change your mind about running away?” she asked.

     “What's for supper?” I smiled back.

    It is probably the strangest sport anyone has ever invented. And at first sight, it looks like the easiest. Competitors have to do two things. The first is to stand still. The second is to place their hands anywhere on the body of a car, and keep it there.

    This is where things start getting difficult. Lots of people are doing the same thing. And the winner of the “handstand” contest is the person who can carry on doing it for the longest time. That person gets to own the car.

It still seems to be an easy thing to do. At the beginning it is. Anyone can stand still. But when the contest has been going for four or five days, standing still seems like the most difficult job in the world . And keeping the hand in place over this time becomes an act of serious attention. After a few days, the hand seems to belong to someone else—-someone who wants to go home and get some sleep.

    Competitors are allowed to take a five-minute break every hour to eat, drink or do whatever else is necessary. No one is allowed to lean on the car for support. Winners need to be able to show great powers of attention. They also need to be able to develop special skills.

    Maybe the popularity of the “handathon” is due to the fact that it is not necessary to be a trained athlete to enter. Competitors in the Longview handathon certainly don't seem to do much preparation. Most say they will prepare by “getting lots of sleep”. Others say they will “eat healthy food” or “pray for success”.  The whole event gives ordinary people the chance to do something interesting and win something in the end.

    Handathons are competitions, but there is little rivalry (竞争) between competitors. They help each other out and keep each other's spitits up. People who drop out early return with food, drink and encouragement.

    It was close to midnight and it was unusual to see vehicles on the road. However, several trucks pulled over and workers silently unloaded camera equipment and cardboard boxes, and then carried them inside the Morgenson family home.

    What took place over the next eight weeks was inspired by a Hollywood movie called The Joneses about a family of marketers who move into a local neighborhood to sell their products secretly to their neighbors. The idea was to test the power of word-of-mouth marketing. By filming a 'rear' family in unscripted (无剧本的) situations, my team and I would document how the Morgensons' circle of friends responded to brands and products the Morgensons bought into their lives.

    With the help of 35 video cameras and 25 microphones hidden inside the furniture, the operation done secretly showed something shocking. The most powerful hidden persuader of all isn't in your TV or on the shelves of your supermarket. It's a far more important influence that's around you almost every waking moment: your very own friends and neighbors. There is nothing quite so persuasive as observing someone we respect or admire using a brand or product.

    Our analysis also found that the brands the Morgensons used went faster. About one third of the Morgensons' friends began promoting these same brands to their friends. We also found that the brands their friends were most likely to buy at the Morgensons' suggestion were the bigger and better-known ones. This proved my thoughts that traditional marketing and secret marketing work well together. The most persuasive advertising strategies are strengthened by word-of-mouth advertising.

    Whenever I meet with company managers, I tell them that the people who hold the real marketing power are mouse-clicking consumers and their wide circles of real-life friends. In other words, the people who hold the real power are us.

D

    Many people expect that they can learn a language fast. But learning a language well requires time and determination.

    I came to Finland four years ago. I realized soon that if I wanted to become part of the Finnish society and befriend the Finns, I would need to learn their language. My roommate, who was a Finn, was very helpful, repeating words and talking slowly to me, but of course he was not a professional teacher. So I had to be a self-learner. I carried a notebook and wrote down every Finnish word I heard. I took online courses, watched learning videos and went through all the study material I got my hands on. Luckily there are many chances to do that for free nowadays.

    For me, as for many other people, the most difficult phase in learning a language is to start speaking it. You have to overcome your own barriers, especially the fear of making mistakes.

    After staying three months in Finland I found a language cafe, which was a meeting point for Finnish language learners. As a beginner, I only knew how to introduce myself in Finnish, but here were many people to help me. It was also a relief to notice that I was not the only one struggling with the language.

    I want to stay in Finland and I would like to build my life here. This is why I have also worked hard to write Finnish well. I have studied Finnish even harder after I got into the University of Helsinki to study international politics. Now I am finishing my studies and I am looking for a job where I can take advantage of my Finnish skills. Although it is difficult to get a professional job here, I'm not ready to give up yet.

    Finnish makes me feel modest as there is still much to learn. So far, all the work I have done has paid off. I feel that I am now closer to the Finns.

    When Wu Jia, then aged 23, returned from Canada to work for her father's Hangzhou-based Zoland Animation (动画) in 2007, she found Chinese animation productions were just-so-so. Back then, Chinese animation shown at overseas events, received a poor response.

    But things soon changed following a boom in China's movie and television industries. By 2011, China developed into one of the world's largest animation producers, with animation and cartoon products reaching a record of 260,000 minutes.

    However, that figure has witnessed a fall in recent years. The latest statistics show that China made only 244 animated productions totaling 83,600 minutes in 2017. But Wu says: “Chinese animators are changing from quantity to quality and Chinese animators are now producing more quality works” at the 14th China International Cartoon & Animation Festival.

    Wu, now the chairman of Zoland Animation, is among those who are part of China's rapidly growing animation industry. She says the company has so far displayed more than 8,000 hours of animated content to 93 countries and regions, including the United States, United Kingdom, France, South Korea and Russia.

    Magic Eye, one of Zoland's most popular animated works, which was sold to just Singapore in 2006, is now reaching the screens of nearly 80 countries and regions worldwide. The 500-episode animated series about an alien boy's adventures on Earth also has a sequel (续集) series Magic Eye is Back, which has 104 episodes. Thanks to Magic Eye's popularity, the sequel quickly arouses interest in overseas markets and is being displayed in 38 countries and regions.

    Speaking about how to succeed abroad, Wu says: “First, the works should be good. And, you need an experienced team who knows international markets.”

    Have you ever been afraid to talk back when you were treated unfairly? Have you ever bought something just because the salesman talked you into it? Many people are afraid to speak out for their rights. Dr Robert Albert, author of Stand Up, Speak Out, and Talk Back thinks it's because their self-respect is low.

    But Albert and other scientists are doing something to help people help themselves. They offer "assertiveness training" courses A. T. for short. In the A. T. Course people learn that they have a right to be themselves. They learn to speak out and feel good about doing so. They learn to help themselves without hurting other people.

In one way, learning to speak out is to get rid of fear, a group taking an A. T. Course will help the shy person to lose his fear. But a. T. uses an even stronger motive— he needs to share. The shy person speaks out in the group because he wants to tell how he feels. Whether or not you speak up for yourself depends on your self-respect. If someone you face is more "important" than you, you may feel less of a person. You start to doubt your answers to problems. You can get to feel good about yourself. And once you do you can learn to speak out.