If you have a chance to go to Finland, you will probably be surprised to find how “foolish” the Finnish people are.

    Take the taxi drivers for example. Taxis in Finland are mostly high-class Benz with a fare of two US dollars a kilometer. You can go anywhere in one, tell the driver to drop you at any place, say that you have some business to attend to, and then walk off without paying your fare. The driver would not show the least sign of anxiety.

    The dining rooms in all big hotels not only serve their guests, but also serve outside diners. Hotel guests have their meals free, so they naturally go to the free dining rooms to have their meals. The most they would do to show their good faith is to wave their registration card to the waiter. With such a loose check, you can easily use any old registration card to take a couple of friends to dine free of charge.

    The Finnish workers are paid by the hour. They are very much on their own as soon as they have agreed with the boss on the rate(价钱). From then on, they just say how many hours they have worked and they will be paid accordingly(相应地).

    With so many loopholes(漏洞) in everyday life, surely Finland must be a heaven to those who love to take “petty advantages”. But the strange thing is, all the taxi passengers would always come back to pay their fare after they have attended to their business; not a single outsider has ever been found in the free hotel dining rooms. And workers always give an honest account of the exact hours they put in. As the Finns always act on good faith in everything they do, living in such a society has turned everyone into a real “gentleman”.

    In a society of such high moral practice, what need is there for people to be on guard against others?

    The story told to all American children about honesty is about the cherry tree that President George Washington cut when he was a boy. In China, every child knows the story of Lei Feng, the young soldier who helped others and was very honest. The stories of George Washington and Lei Feng help us understand the importance of being honest.

    Every teacher wants his or her students to be honest. If every student can be honest in their childhood, they will be honest when they become adults. The country will then be known as an honest country and it will be respected by everyone.

    Usually, it is the father and the mother who give the first lessons of honesty. George Washington learned honesty from his father.

    A favorite Chinese story is about a young man who went to the market to buy food for his mother. There was a very young girl there who was selling flowers. The young man stole one flower when the girl served her customer.

    When he went home, he began to think what he had done. He went back to the market to find the girl. He told her that he was sorry and that he wanted to pay her for the flower. The little girl refused and said, "You do not need to pay for the flower, elder brother. Since you took it, I thought you had a reason to take it so I did not worry about receiving money for it."The young man was ashamed that he stole the flower. He could never forget about the importance of being honest.

    Six years ago at the age of 35,I suddenly decided I wanted to learn the cello（大提琴）.Straight away I rented an instrument and appeared before Wendell Margrave,professor of musical instruction.

    "You can be as good as you want to be,"Margrave said rather mysteriously.On a piece of paper he drew the notes E and F.He showed me where to put my fingers on the neck of the cello and how to draw the bow.Then he entered my name in his book: 10 am,Tuesday.Tuesday followed Tuesday,and soon it was spring.

     Thus began my voyage out of ignorance and into the dream.E-F,E-F,we played together—and moved on to G.It was a happy time.I was again becoming something new,and no longer trapped as the same person.Surely the most terrible recognition of middle life is that we are past changing.We do what we can already do.The cello was something I couldn't do.Yet each Tuesday this became less and less true.Riding home on the bus one snowy night and learning the score of Mozart's C-Major Quintet(莫扎特的C大调五重奏),I felt the page burst into music in my hands.I could by then more or less read a score,and was humming（哼唱）the cello line,when suddenly all five parts came together harmonically（和谐地） in my head.The fellow sitting opposite stared.I met his glance with tears,actually hearing the music in my head for the first time.Could he hear it too, perhaps?No,he got off at the next stop.

    As the years slipped by,my daughter grew up,playing the piano well.My goal was that she and I would one day perform together.I also wanted to perform in public with and for my peers,and to be secretly envied.I continued to play,to perform,but it is not the same. Before, when I heard a cello,it was all beauty and light.Now,as the TV camera gets close to Rostropovich's face,I recognize that his smile shows his incredible determination.Even for him,the cello is a difficult instrument that doesn't respect your ambitions.I picked up my cello and practiced.As good as I wanted to be,I am as good as I'm going to get.It is good enough.

    China's hot word, tuhao, may be in Oxford English Dictionary.

    In Chinese, tu means rude and hao means rich. In recent years, people use this term to describe those who spend money in an unreasonable way. The word became more popular with Apple's gold-colored iPhone, which is loved by China's rich people. The color became known as “tuhao golden”. The word is now often used to refer to people who have money but lack taste.

    There are two other Chinese hot words: dama and No Zuo No Die, which may also be taken in the dictionary. Dama, meaning middle-aged women, was first used in the Western media by the Wall Street Journal. Thousands of Chinese women were buying a large amount of gold when the gold price had gone down. Another phrase No Zuo No Die, meaning if you don't do stupid things, they won't come back to bite you, is also very popular. Other words, such as Maotai, Chinglish and dim sum have also been included in the dictionary.

    BBC World News recently made a special program called “Tuhao, let's be friends!” “The frequent use of Chinglish by foreign media suggests that foreign people are looking more to the lifestyle and popular culture of China,” says Zhang Yiwu, professor of Beijing University.

    What does this trend suggest about the Chinese language's influence?

    Xing Hongbing, a professor from Beijing Language and Culture University (BLCU) said “These show that Chinglish is now being accepted by the rest of the world and they play important roles in daily life of Chinese. Behind these Chinglish words and phrases are the Chinese culture. They are reflections of the changes and trends in the Chinese society and they help people from other countries to understand what's happening in China.”

    Sixteen years ago, I learned an important life lesson in the back of a New York City taxi.

    I was on my way to Grand Central Station, and we were driving in the right lane when a black car suddenly sped out of a parking space right in front of us.

    My driver fit the brakes hard, skidded, and missed the other car by a few inches. The driver of the other car, the man who had just nearly caused a huge accident, started shouting at us. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at him. He was really friendly!

    “Why did you just do that?” I asked him. “This guy almost destroyed your car and could have sent us to the hospital!”

    This was when my taxi driver told me what I now call “the Law of Garbage Trucks”.

    “Many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of anger, and full of disappointment,” he said. “As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it, and if you let them do, they'll dump it on you. So when someone wants to dump on you, just smile, wave, wish them will, and move on. You'll be happier because of what you have done.”

    I started thinking, how often do I let Garbage Trucks run right over me? And how often do I take their garbage and dump it on other people—at work, at home, or on the street? It was on that day that I said, “I'm not going to dump anymore.”

    If you're a design enthusiast, you're sure to feel dizzy over these jaw-dropping pools.

    Sky Park Infinity Pool, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore

    Located on the Sky Park above Singapore's most famous hotel, Marina Bay Sands this is the world's largest rooftop pool. Offering amazing views of the city's skyline, the pool is at least three times the length of an Olympic swimming pool. As visitors swim toward the edge, they face an illusion that they'll float into the sky-line. It's quite a heart-beaten rush!

    The Red Pool, The Library Koh Samui. Thailand

    This blood-red pool is perhaps one of the most special hotel pools on the list. Set against the backdrop of Koh Samui's Chaweng Beach, the fascinating colour isn't the result of using artificial dye. Rather, the mosaic tiles(马赛克瓷砖) of orange, yellow and red make the brilliant sight that is set among trees and an open-air library.

    San Alfonso del Mar Resort Pool. Region de valparaiso, Chile

    The world's largest outdoor swimming pool gets its water directly from the sea. The pool uses a computer-controlled pump and filtration system. Located at Chile's San Alfonso del Mar Resort, this huge man-made pool is larger than 20 Olympic-size pools and holds approximately 250 million litres of water. It also holds the Guinness World Record for being the world's deepest (115 feet)pool.

    Y-40 Deep Joy, Hotel Millepini Terme in Montegrotto Terme, Italy

    The deepest hotel swimming pool in the world will make you feel like you're jumping into the sea! The Y-40 Deep Joy is a round-shaped pool that reaches a depth of an impressive 130 feet. The pool, which has special caves， ledges(壁架) and underwater viewing glass, was designed by well-known- architect Emanuele Boaretto. It's meant for leisure dives, dive training and photo shoots.