I work as a volunteer for the poor in Haiti. I decided to take my son Brain there for a week, hoping to educate(教育) him.

Before getting out, I told Brain this trip would be tiring and hard. For the first two days, he said almost nothing. Then on the third day, when we were climbing over high rocky mountains, he turned to me and smiled, “Really hard.”

    After that, a five-year-old girl, wearing a too large dress and broken shoes, followed Brain around. Later he said regretfully(遗憾地), “I wish I could speak French.” I was surprised that this was from a boy. He always hated French classes.

    One day, I was interviewing(采访) a woman villager for an article. By working hard, she had learned to read and write and became part of the leadership(领导层) of the village. That really touched my heart.

    Learning her story, Brain was greatly touched. His eyes were wet and there was love and respect(尊重) on his face. He finally understood the importance of my work. When leaving for home, Brain even offered(提供) to stay in as a volunteer. This trip was very meaningful.

    Have you ever been to America? I was only an 11-year-old girl when my parents 1 me that we would soon move to America. We were on the bus then. I cried. I remember that I could not bear the thought of never 2 the radio programme for school children again which I listened to every morning.

    In fact, I think I cried very little when I was saying 3 to my friends and relatives. When we were leaving, I even felt a little 4 because I thought about all the places I was going to see—the strange and magical places I had known only from books and pictures.

    The first four years in America taught me the 5 of optimism (乐观), but the idea did not come to me at once. For the first two years in New York I was really lost. I had to study in three schools and spent most of my time learning the English language. I hardly had any time for 6. Sometimes I did not quite know what l was or what I should be. My mother 7 and things became even harder for me. It took me some time to get used to staying with my stepfather (继父). I was often 8, and saw no end to "the hard times". I had to do many things for the family since I knew English better than everyone else at home.

    9, things got better and better later and almost all common troubles 10 at last. From those experiences I have learnt one important rule: Something good is certain to happen in the end when you do not give up, and just wait a little.

    One day, Mr. Smith is going to take a train to his hometown. When the train starts, one of his shoes falls to the ground. The train is running faster and faster and he can't pick it up. Then he quickly takes off(脱下) the other one and throws it on the ground near the fallen shoe. A little boy on the train asks him, "Why do you do that?" "I've already lost one shoe." Mr. Smith answers. "If a man picks them up, he may get a pair of shoes."

    I'm going to have a great weekend. I'll go across Canada with my parents by car. We'll drive seven or eight hours a day.

    In Toronto, we'll stay in a big hotel. The food is very delicious. There's a big swimming pool and a lot of game rooms. I think I'll play there happily. But there will be lots of people in the hotel, so I think we'll sleep in one room. And it's expensive.

    Then we are going to stay in a small cabin(小木屋) in the mountains. I really love it. The cabin is clean and quiet. We'll have two rooms, so I can get up late in the morning. But we have to get up early because we want to go swimming. There is a beautiful lake near the cabin. We can go fishing and cook food outside.

    Some people have a very poor sense of direction. Unluckily, I am one of them. I have visited a place many times but I may still get lost there the next time.

    When I was a little girl, I never dared to ask strangers the way. And so I used to walk around in circles and hope that by chance I would get to the place I was going to.

    Now, I am no longer too shy to ask people for directions, but I often receive useless or ever wrong information. So I try to avoid giving people wrong directions. It anyone asks me the way somewhere, I would say, "Sorry, I am a stranger here."

    Once on my way to work I was stopped by a man. He asked me if I could tell him the way to the Friendship Building. I gave him my usual reply. But just as I walked on only a few steps, I realized that he had asked the way to my office building. However, I had no time to turn back and look for him. I hurried to meet someone at my office and I didn't want to keep him waiting.

    When I just got to my office, the secretary showed in the man who had asked me for directions. Imagine how awkward I was and how surprised he was when we saw each other at the first sight!