Imagine you are in a jumping contest. Animals and insects can also enter this contest. But they might just leave humans in the dust!

    The first event is the long jump. The human athlete is Mike Powell. In 1991, he jumped nearly 30 feet, which is the world record for the long jump. That is about five times his own height.

    His competitor in the long-jump contest is a frog named “Rosie the Ribbiter.” Rosie set the world record for frogs in 1986 by jumping more than 21 feet. Her record has never been broken by any other frog. Compared to Mike Powell, Rosie's jump is not that amazing. But wait! Rosie is only about 10 inches long when her legs are stretched to their full length. She can jump more than 25 times her size. Rosie, the frog, wins the long-jump event.

    The next event is the high jump. Javier Sotomayor, the world record holder, can jump a bar (横杆) 8 feet high. That is about as high as the ceiling in most homes.

    Looking around for someone to challenge his record, Javier might need a magnifying glass (放大镜). The next contestant is a tiny insect called the spittlebug (吹沫虫).

    The spittlebug can jump 28 inches into the air. It is only a quarter-inch long, less than the width of a pencil. If the spittlebug were the same size as Javier, it would be able to jump 600 feet into the air. That is like a human jumping over a building 55 stories high!

    Though the humans lose the “jumping contest,” their competitors would probably agree that Mike and Javier are still pretty excellent athletes. If only Rosie and the spittlebug could speak!

Weekend Photography Workshop(研讨班): Seattle Aims

Learn new techniques from a great photographer

Take photos of Pike Place Market, Bainbridge Island, and more

Activity Details

    Seattle is a fantastic place to photograph. Spend the weekend taking photos of the historic Pike Place Market, get a new angle on the Space Needle, and photograph harbor views on Bainbridge Island.

    This workshop is led by a great photographer and a professional instructor and is designed for people who are interested in improving their digital photography. All participants must bring a digital SLR camera(单反相机), a laptop, and the software for organizing and presenting images. The workshop is limited to 25 participants.

Plan – 3 Days

Day 1—Thursday: Seattle

    Settle into our hotel or stay in accommodations of your choice. Gather tonight at a restaurant in town for a welcome dinner.

Day 2—Friday: Pike Place Market & Pioneer Square

    Start the day in the classroom with an instructive talk by our photographer. Our first task this afternoon takes us to the oldest running farmers' market in the country, Pike Place Market. Work on portraits, street scenes, and food photographing. Then photograph the stately 19^th century brick buildings of Pioneer Square, Seattle's historic center. End the day with an edit-and-critic meeting.

Day 3—Saturday: Olympic Sculpture Park & Space Needle

    Head out to the Olympic Sculpture Park. Then go to the streets of the downtown area to get a unique view of the Space Needle, and photograph city life against a background of diverse architectural styles. Tonight, we'll present our best images to the group, enjoy dinner at a local restaurant and end our journey.

Cost

    Meals noted in the plan are included in both options(with and without hotel)

Dates

Jul 11 – 14, 2013     Aug 08—11, 2013       Sep 26 – 29, 2013

Contact Information

    For questions about this workshop, please call 1-886-797-4686. Or you can visit the website: http://www. nationalgeographicexpeditions.com.

    In 1978, I was 18 and was working as a nurse in a small town about 270 km away from Sydney, Australia. I was looking forward to having five days off from duty. Unfortunately, the only one train a day back to my home in Sydney had already left. So I thought I'd hitch a ride (搭便车).

    I waited by the side of the highway for three hours but no one stopped for me. Finally, a man walked over and introduced himself as Gordon. He said that although he couldn't give me a lift, I should come back to his house for lunch. He noticed me standing for hours in the November heat and thought I must be hungry. I was doubtful as a young girl but he assured （使…放心）me I was safe, and he also offered to help me find a lift home afterwards. When we arrived at his house, he made us sandwiches. After lunch, he helped me find a lift home.

Twenty-five years later, in 2003, while I was driving to a nearby town one day, I saw an elderly man standing in the glaring heat, trying to hitch a ride. I thought it was another chance to repay someone for the favour I'd been given decades earlier. I pulled over and picked him up. I made him comfortable on the back seat and offered him some water.

    After a few moments of small talk, the man said to me, “You haven't changed a bit, even your red hair is still the same.”

    I couldn't remember where I'd met him. He then told me he was the man who had given me lunch and helped me find a lift all those years ago. It was Gordon.

    The first week of my summer campaign has been quite an experience! I'm learning the ups and downs of guiding this new journey,and I'm soon finding my footing in the wonderful world of support raising.

    Some may ask: Why do you choose a job where support raising is necessary? Why not just find a ministry that will support you without having to do any extra work?

    I had a wonderful support meeting this week where I was able to have some very good conversations with the lady I was sharing with.It blessed my soul to see her eyes light up with the same passion（热情）I felt in my heart about the ministry I was sharing with her.I kept thinking in my head "I've shared my passions with her,and she gets it."At the end of our meeting she decided to become a donor,but she gave me something extra that I haven't received from anyone else.She gave me a handmade wooden cross,small enough to carry with me.

    As soon as she handed it to me,I knew it was a gift sent from God,through an act of friendship.It's a symbol of a partnership that is developing through this journey,a symbol of how God can send us messages and a symbol of new friendships to come throughout the summer and my time in the middle east.Finally,it's a symbol of the example of what it looks like to build relationships with people who will join you in sharing with the world.It's something I'll treasure through the rest of my summer campaign,through my service in the middle east,and the rest of my life.

    TOASTMASTERS

    Toastmasters is an international organization, designed to develop effective speaking and listening skills. It was set up in 1924 by Ralph Smedley and it's headquartered in California. It has a double purpose: the personal growth and strong effective communication skills.

    Who is Toastmasters open to?

    Many people think Toastmasters is open only to those who wish to be professional speakers, but that is not true. Toastmasters is open to the public at large. Any person who wishes to improve his public speaking is welcome. And also, those who just want to increase their overall self-confidence are encouraged to attend.

How can Toastmasters help you?

    Joining Toastmasters, a person will learn different methods of communicating what he really wants to say, and equally important, he will learn what the audience expects so he can send that message to them in an organized way. Some people are comfortable around friends, but when they appear before a group they don't know, they get nervous. The organization helps its members to get calm and organize thoughts, and express them in an effective way.

    Most often, people assume that when one is listening, he is also paying attention. This is not always true. Many times people are waiting for their turn to speak and are not really listening at all. Toastmasters can develop a person overall in organizing their thoughts, getting information from others and receiving effective feedback（反馈）.

    How does Toastmasters train people?

    Toastmasters has a way of learning by doing. The Toastmasters International Organization provides a menu called the basic menu because it gives a guideline for the development of speeches. These speeches can meet different purposes. For example, one might need voice training; another might be to organize his thoughts or develop use of humor in speeches. There is an eight-week program for young people and also an eight-week speech course offered for adults. As a person continues to give speeches and improve, he progresses from the point of being fearful to stand before a group to the point where he can speak to any group of people with confidence.

    A dog spent the last four years of his life waiting a crossroad in the Thai city of Khon Kaen as if waiting for someone. People originally thought the dog had been abandoned, but then realized that he looked healthy, so people asked around about him. It turned out that the dog had indeed been spending most of his time around that crossroad, but a woman had been coming round regularly to bring him food and water.

    One day, while photographing the dog everyone called Leo, a reporter met the woman who had been taking care of him. She had come to drop off some food. After learning the story about the dog and the woman, the reporter decided to share the story on social media. The post soon went viral and the photos of Leo got shared hundreds of times. And the photos reached the eyes of Leo's former old owner.

    Nang Noi Sittisarn, a 64-year-old woman from Thailand's Roi Et Province, almost had a heart attack when her daughter showed her a photo of the beloved dog named BonBon she had lost during a car trip. When she learned that he had been waiting for her in the same spot for the last four years，her heart melted(融化).

    Auntie Noi told her daughter to drive her to where the dog was waiting. When she got there and called his name. BonBon, the poor dog started wiggling(扭动)his tail and came to her, but when she tried to take him home with her, he was unwilling to follow. She didn't want to force the dog to come with her, so she agreed to leave him with his new master. However, she and her daughter will come to visit him regularly.