Current Culture: Is Common Culture Alive?

    The digitizing and globalizing world is changing the working of culture. As some see it, cities and nations are losing their common culture and their general spirit: people can no longer count on those around them valuing any of the same music or films. Others argue that a common culture is not dying so much as changing forms: it is less and less attached to a particular area and ever more linked to global networks.

    The facts lead to the change that anyone can become a cultural producer today, that the culture is increasingly available everywhere you want it, and whenever you want it, not just in the two months after the movie or book came out. Cultural possibilities have multiplied as a result, but the change also means fewer cultural moments. It is easy to find the change in terms of loss of diversity of society. So what will it mean if globalization turns us into one wide world culture?

    For the enthusiasts of these changes, culture is not about popular artists or books, but centers on platforms like Google and Wikipedia, where every variety of culture brings about the exchange of knowledge and ideas, and makes connections across boundaries. It is perhaps debatable whether two people who have participated in such websites, but in totally different corners of them, have had a cultural experience in common. In fact, these platforms become very successful with a large crowd of people, who build things together, share information, and forward articles back and forth. Here are still more questions. What does it mean for the future of countries that culture now goes beyond the limits of the nation? Is there anything to defend and preserve in the passing cultural world, or is that merely to favor pen over printing press, horse over automobile?

    Up to now a growing quantity of culture has been globally spreading and developing. More individuals (个人) than ever have the chances to be makers of culture, even if that means more to choose from and fewer standards to be reached in common. What it means is this strange feeling: that of being more connected than ever, with one-click access to so much of the cultural harvest around the world, and yet, of being starved for having similar interests and opinions with others, concerned only with ourselves.

    Peruvian novelist, Mario Vargas Llosa, who received Nobel Prize for Literature in 2010, is one of the central writers in Latin America, but he began his literary career in Europe.

    Mario Vargas Llosa was born in Arequipa, but from age one he lived in Cochabamba, Bolivia, where he was brought up by his mother and grandparents after his parents separated. However, Vargas Llosa once said that "I feel very much an Arequipan"．He also spent some time in Piura, northern Peru (1945～1946)．

    Vargas Llosa attended Leoncio Prado Military Academy (1950～1952), and Colegio Nacional San Miguel de Piura (1952), Peru． In 1955 he married Julia Urquidi; they divorced in 1964.From 1955 to 1957 Vargas Llosa studied literature and law at the University of San Marcos, Peru. He then attended post-graduate school at the University of Madrid, Spain, where he received his Ph.D.in 1959.

    In the 1950s, while still a student, Vargas Llosa worked as a journalist for La Industria. His first collection of short stories, LOSJEFES, appeared in 1959."I liked Faulkner but I imitated Hemingway, "he said later. Vargas Llosa moved to Paris because he felt that in Peru he could not earn his living as a serious writer. Although the boom of Latin American fiction in the 1960s opened doors to some authors for commercial success, the great majority of Peruvian writers suffered from the problems of the country's publishing industry. In France Vargas Llosa worked as Spanish teacher, journalist and broadcaster. From the late 1960s Vargas Llosa worked as a visiting professor at many American and European universities. In 1970 Vargas Llosa moved to Barcelona and five years later he settled back in Peru. Most of his novels are set in Peru.

    In addition to the Nobel Prize, Vargas Llosa has received many other honors. Among the most notable are Leopoldo Alas Prize (1959), Peruvian National Prize (1967) and Miguel de Cervantes Prize (1994).

    San Francisco Fire Engine Tours

    San Francisco Winery Tour

    Running: February 1st through April 30th

    This delicious tour goes through the city on its way to Treasure Island where we will stop at the famous Winery SF. Here you can enjoy 4 pours of some of the best wine San Francisco has to offer. (Included in ticket price)

    Departing from the Cannery: Tour times upon request

    Duration ( 时长 ) :2 hours

    Price: $90

    Back to the Fifties Tour

    Running: August 16th through August 31st

    This tour transports you back in time to one of San Francisco's most fantastic periods, the 1950s! Enjoy fun history as we take you through San Francisco for a free taste of ice cream.

    Departing from the Cannery: 5:00 pm and 7:30 pm

    Duration: 2 hours

    Price: $90

    Spooky Halloween Tour

    Running: October 10th through October 31 st Join us for a ride through the historical Presidio district. Authentic fire gear(服装) is provided for your warmth as our entertainers take you to some of the most thrilling parts of San Francisco.

    Departing from the Cannery: 6:30 pm and 8:30 pm

    Duration: 1 hour and 30 minutes

    Price: Available upon request

    Holiday Lights Tour

    Running: December 6th through December 23rd

    This attractive tour takes you to some of San

    Francisco's most cheerful holiday scenes. Authentic fire gear is provided for your warmth as you get into the holiday spirit.

    Departing from the Cannery: 7:00 pm and 9:00 pm

    Duration: 1 hour and 30 minutes

    Advance reservations required.

    Visit one of the most outstanding prehistoric sites in the United Kingdom, and enjoy amazing historic English attractions. Please notice that every tour starts and ends in London. Have a tour with visiting Britain.

Stonehenge Direct Tour

    Visit one of the most outstanding prehistoric sites in England and in the world: Stonehenge.

    Duration: 1 day

    Price: Adults ￡29.99, Children ￡28.99

Stonehenge and Bath Tour

    Enjoy a late breakfast before heading to the Stonehenge site and end your day with an original visit to the Roman Baths.

    Duration: 10 hours (departure 10:30 a. m., return 8:30 p. m.)

    Price: Adults ￡64, Children ￡60

Stonehenge, Bath and Windsor Castle Tour

    Explore three of England's most popular sites to visit: Windsor Castle, Stonehenge and the Roman Baths.

    Duration: 1 day (return 8:30 p. m.)

    Price: Adults ￡64.80, Children ￡61.20

Stonehenge, Lacock and Bath Tour

    Come and feel the warmth of Bath, see the pleasant village of Lacock, and solve the mystery of Stonehenge.

    Duration: 1 day (return 6 p.m.)

    Price: Adults ￡85, Children ￡78

Stonehenge, Windsor and Oxford Tour

    Choose Stonehenge, Windsor and Oxford Tour and enjoy ancient mysticism, royal history and illustrious knowledge.

    Duration: 1 day

    Price: Adults ￡72, Children ￡68

Stonehenge, Bath and Stratford Tour

    Take a tour to make the most of the English historic attractions: the Stonehenge site, Bath and Stratford, the birthplace of playwright William Shakespeare.

    Duration: 1 day (return 8 p. m.)

    Price:Adults ￡79, Children ￡68

    A recent documentary produced by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has caused a stir in China and in the UK.

    The documentary, titled Are Our Kids Tough Enough? focuses on five Chinese teachers who are sent to teach 50 UK teens at a school in Hampshire.

    The teachers instruct the students for a month. The pupils are then tested, and the results are compared to the ones of those who have continued in the regular UK education system. The idea is to see if the Chinese method improves academic performance.

    The Chinese teachers use their own teaching methods but receive strong resistance from the students. A clip from the documentary online shows some problems, with Chinese teachers calling their students lazy and lacking in discipline, while the students say the high pressure and harsh teachers are driving them crazy.

    This has aroused a new debate in both China and the UK, with some arguing the teenagers need more regulation and discipline. Others say Chinese methods encourage rote learning (死记硬背) instead of independent thinking. For instance, Chinese language teachers should do more than pass on knowledge about words and characters. They should inspire students, helping them feel the sentiment from Chinese literature. This is a higher level of teaching.

    Yang Dongping, dean of the 21st Century Education Research Institute, says, "The Chinese teaching methods are designed to strictly train the majority. Foreign teaching methods, however, are more natural and relaxing, and designed to inspire students' interest in learning. Education methods are based on culture. That is why a successful education method in one place may not work that well when simply 'transplanted' into another place."

    Yang Dongping says, "The documentary does reflect some problems rooted in traditional Chinese teaching methods. Nobel prize winner, Yang Zhenning, gave a very fair comment on this issue. He said the Chinese-style education method works for most ordinary qualified students effectively, helping them reach high standards. However, it may weaken the training for high-potential outstanding students."

    Alice Robb is an American science journalist who has written for the Washington Post and the New Republic. Her new book, Why We Dream, encourages us to rethink the importance of dreams and to become dream interpreters ourselves.

    Reporter: Recently there's been a massive interest in the science of sleep. Sleep plays a role in maintaining our mental health. Are dreams part of that process?

    Alice Robb: Dreams play a big role in helping us cope with stress, grief and psychological problems. Dreams are an opportunity to work through things that frighten us in real life, to play out worst-case situations in an environment where they have no consequences.

    Reporter: Has anyone explained why dreams contain such surreal (超现实的) elements, strange pictures of time, people, geography and so on?

    Alice Robb：When we dream, the logic centres of our brain—the frontal lobes (大脑额叶) —go dark, and chemicals associated with self-control, like serotonin (血清素) and norepinephrine (去甲肾 上腺素) , drop. At the same time, the emotion centres light up：we have a perfect chemical canvas for dramatic, psychologically intense visions.

    Reporter：You say neglecting to consider our dreams is like "throwing away a gift from our brains without bothering to open it. " What is the gift?

    Alice Robb: When we're dreaming, we're thinking in a state we never have access to by day. Dreams offer the opportunity to think in a different way and show new answers to problems. They show us blind spots on things we might be neglecting in our personal lives.