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    The kindly “Chinese Fortune Grandpa” wearing Han Chinese clothing and holding a fortune bag debuted(亮相) at the Imperial Ancestral Shrine in Beijing on the day after Christmas. The final image of the Chinese gift-giver was selected through a global design competition that cost millions of yuan. Its debut seems to be a sign of competition against “Santa Claus”, according to a report by Guangming Daily.

    Many Chinese cities have been filled with Christmas neon lights, Christmas songs, Christmas trees, and the images of “Santa Claus” in recent days. As a matter of fact, foreign festivals are becoming more popular than certain traditional Chinese festivals among the Chinese people, particularly the youth. “Certain traditional festivals have died out because people have forgotten their spiritual meanings,” said noted writer Feng Jicai. More and more Chinese people are beginning to exchange gifts on Valentine's Day and Christmas. However, many of them know nothing about Chinese New Year pictures or sugarcoated figurines(小糖人), and have never heard suona music. Certain folk customs on the Dragon Boat Festival, Tomb Sweeping Day, and other traditional festivals have gradually disappeared. Under such circumstances, even the “Chinese Fortune Grandpa” is unlikely to defeat “Santa Claus”.

    However, it is not a bad thing to some extent. It constantly reminds people to restore the “true face” of traditional festivals. China has listed traditional Tomb Sweeping Day, Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival as legal holidays, which brings more paid leaves to the public, and helps to awaken the public awareness of traditional festivals.

    In modern society, festival is a carrier of culture and its meaning largely depends on their understandings and usages by people. Compared with foreign festivals, traditional Chinese festivals are not inferior(次于) in cultural meanings, but lack of fashion sought by modern people. If people do not appreciate the historical culture contained by traditional festivals, and only take pleasure-seeking as the most important, the significance of traditional festivals will fade away and the inheritance(继承) of fine traditional culture will be cut off.

    Hilton Head Island, in South Carolina, is a popular vacation spot on the East Coast of the US. There are 250 restaurants on the island. You can try the following excellent restaurants.

Skull Creek Boathouse

397 Squire Pope Road

843-681-3663

    It's a good place for seafood lovers. Lunch is served daily from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., dinner from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m., and weekend lunch is served from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The menu is mostly seafood.

Quarterdeck

32 Greenwood Road

1-866-561-8802

    The view from this restaurant is wonderful. You have many choices, such as beef, burgers and soups. Open for lunch and dinner, the hours are 11:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. for lunch, and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. for dinner.

Frankie Bones

1301 Main Street

843-842-4033

    They are open 7 days a week for lunch and dinner from 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Sunday lunch is served from 11:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. For lunch you can enjoy sandwiches, salads, rice, and pasta dishes. The entrée (主菜) is served with soup or salad. The salad also has cheese, pine nuts and dried berries.

Mellow Mushroom

33 Office Park Road

843-686-2474

    If you want something different, stop in at the Mellow Mushroom. They have specialty (特色菜) pizzas, salads, and sandwiches. If you enjoy wines, you'll surely find something you like. It is open 7 days a week — Sunday through Thursday from 11:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. and Friday and Saturday 11:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.

    Become a Volunteer and Make a Difference

    The First Tee, as an outstanding youth development organization, is always searching for good people that want to volunteer at one of our many Pittsburgh area locations.

    We're Looking for You!

    Nationwide, we currently have more than 3,700 coaches signed up with The First Tee as well as volunteers. But you don't have to be a golf professional or even a good golfer. With The First Tee Coach Program, we provide the training you need.

    Developed with input from leading experts in the field of positive youth development, our program focuses on making participants stronger and more confident through decision-making and exploring options, inspiring the golfers of tomorrow to look to the future, set goals, and unlock their potential.

    We also need more volunteers to make The First Tee possible. Opportunities include:

    Assistant Coach: assist in our weekly golf clinics. All that we request is that you make a 7-week commitment (one day per week), for 2 hours each week. Each clinic is led by one of our trained staff members who creates a written lesson plan for our volunteers to follow.

    Database Manager: input data entry of participants, volunteers, and community relation records and update chapter information for Home Office and community relations. The database manager is expected to update the data a minimum of every other week.

    Equipment Manager: organize and sort donated equipment, get rid of unfit equipment, and arrange equipment for distribution to participants at least once a week.

    Greeter: register participants, hand information to parents, greet visitors, answer phone and provide general program information.

Process of Becoming a Volunteer

    Begin by filling out the Google Forms application below. Once Alison Boyle (our Director of Volunteer and Participant Services) receives your completed application, she will contact you for an in-person interview.

    CLICK HERE to fill out a Volunteer Application via Google Forms

    For more information, please contact our Director of Volunteer and Participant Services, Alison Boyle, at aboyle@the first teepittsburgh.org.

    A new study, conducted by British company Mindlab International, has found that listening to music at work increases accuracy (精确) and speed, The Telegraph reported.

    Perhaps, some parents disagree with this idea, saying, "Switch off the music and concentrate!" Well, if that's the case with your parents, you might now be able to convince them that you have science on your side.

    The company gave 26 participants （参与者）a series of different tasks for five days in a row, including spell checking, mathematical word problems, data entry, and abstract reasoning. The participants completed these tasks while listening to music or no music at all.

    The results showed that while music was playing, 88% of participants produced their most accurate test results and 81% completed their fastest work. David Lewis, chairman of Mindlab International, told The Telegraph, "Music is a very powerful management tool if you want to increase not only the efficiency of your workforce but also their emotional state, they are going to become more positive about the work."

    However, you may have a list of your favorite songs, but not all kinds of music match all homework. For maths or other subjects involving numbers or attention to detail, you should listen to classical music, the study found. In the study, pop music enabled participants to complete their tasks 58% faster than when listening to no music at all. If you are reviewing your English writing, pop music is the best choice, as it is the best kind for spell checking. It cut mistakes by 14%, compared to listening to no music. After finishing your homework, do you often take time to check your answers? Maybe, some dance music is suitable for you.

    What is eBay? The simple answer is that it is a global trading platform where nearly anyone can trade practically anything. People can sell and buy all kinds of products and goods, including cars, movies and DVDs. sporting goods, travel tickets, musical instrument clothes and shoes- the list goes on and on.

    The idea came from Peter Omidyar, who was born in Paris and move to Washington when he was still a child. At high school, he became very interested in computer monogramming and after graduating from Tuft University in 1988, he worked for the next few years as a computer engineer. In his free time he started eBay as a kind of hobby, at first offering the service free by word of mouth.By1996 there was so much traffic on the website that he had to upgrade (升级) and he began charging a fee to members Joined by a friend, Peter Skoll, and in 1998 by his capable CEO, Meg Whitman, he has never looked back. Even in the crashes of the late 1990s, eBay has gone from strength to strength. It is now one of the ten most visited online shopping websites on the internet.

    eBay sells connections, not goods, putting buyer and seller into contact with each other. All you have to do is take an e-photo, write a description fill out a sales form and you are in business; the world is your market place. Of course for each item (商品) sold eBay gets a percentage and that is a great deal of money. Every day there are more than sixteen million items listed on eBay and eighty percent of the items are sold……

    When you need a job very much, you may end up taking one for which you are over qualified. Although you were initially grateful just to have the work, you now feel bored and depressed. Is there any way to change that?

    Start by changing your opinion, says Caitlin Kelly, the author of Malled, a book based on her experience as a sales clerk after losing her job in journalism. "Don't focus on what you're not getting but what you are getting," she says. "Be patient and work attentively with a wide range of people. It doesn't matter what the job is –there are always things you can learn and skills you can develop."

    Hilary Pearl, the founder of a coaching firm, says, "Tell yourself the current situation isn't the end of your career. Don't overdramatize(过分夸大)the negative aspects but try to view the situation more philosophically: life has a series of stages, and this is one of them. Don't forget to study even in the worst stage."

    Consider that because you're overqualified, you may be able to learn or do things on the job that might not have been possible in a more demanding position, says Sarah Hathorn, the chief executive of Illustra Consulting. "You could spend your extra time in learning different aspects of the business and teaching others in the organization," she says.

    Is it possible to make your work more challenging, even if your job responsibilities aren't likely to change?

    Of course, you may seek tasks and responsibilities that force you to learn something new or to work harder. "You may be operating on autopilot(习惯性地)right now, but chances are that people above you are stressed," Sarah Hathorn says." Take things off your boss's plate and let him know which projects or tasks you want to learn more about."

    Always express your request positively, saying that you love new challenges, rather than complaining that you're bored and underused, says Ethun, the president of the Park Avenue Group. In your down time, educate yourself about the company and its industry. "Read corporate information, analyst reports and related news articles," she says. "If your boss accepts your suggestions, it will make you a more valuable employee."