Arriving in Sydney on his own from India, my husband, Rashid, stayed in a hotel for a short time while looking for a house for me and our children.

    During the first week of his stay, he went out one day to do some shopping. He came back in the late afternoon to discover that his suitcase was gone. He was extremely worried as the suitcase had all his important papers, including his passport.

    He reported the case to the police and then sat there，lost and lonely in strange city, thinking of the terrible troubles of getting all the paperwork organized again from a distant country while trying to settle down in a new one.

    Late in the evening, the phone rang. It was a stranger. He was trying to pronounce my husband's name and was asking him a lot of questions. Then he said they had found a pile of papers in their trash can that had been left out on the footpath.

    My husband rushed to their home to find a kind family holding all his papers and documents. Their young daughter had gone to the trash can and found a pile of unfamiliar papers. Her parents had carefully sorted them out, although they had found mainly foreign addresses on most of the documents. At last they had seen a half-written letter in the pile in which my husband had given his new telephone number to a friend.

    That family not only restored the important documents to us that day but also restored our faith and trust in people. We still remember their kindness and often send a warm wish their way.

    Many experts say that Billy Wilder changed the history of American movies. He is often called the best movie maker Hollywood has ever had, known for making movies that offered sharp social comment.

    Between the 1930s and the 1980s, Billy Wilder made almost fifty movies. During that time he received more than twenty nominations from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He won six of the Oscar awards. His movies have been seen by people around the world, like “Sunset Boulevard”, “Some Like It Hot”, “The Lost Weekend”, “The Apartment”, and “The Seven Year Itch”.

    Samuel Wilder was born in 1906 in the former Austro-Hungarian Empire. His mother had enjoyed spending several years in the United States when she was young. So she called him Billy because she thought it sounded American. Billy Wilder started law school in Vienna, Austria. Then he decided not to become a lawyer. Instead, he began reporting for a Vienna newspaper. By the 1920s, he was writing movies in Germany.

    However, the Nazis had risen to power in the nation. Wilder was Jewish, and he recognized that he had no future in Nazi Germany. In 1933, he went to Paris. There he directed a movie for the first time. It was called “The Bad Seed”. Then he received word that producers in the United States had accepted one of his scripts. Billy Wilder left Europe for America.

    Billy Wilder had only eleven dollars when he arrived to settle in the United States in 1934. He decided to live in the center of American movie making, Hollywood, California. Then he formed a writing team with Charles Brackett. The two writers created many successful films together. Wilder always praised this man as a friend and teacher whose humor and expert direction greatly influenced his work.

    In his love stories, Billy Wilder did not follow the Hollywood tradition of sweet boy-meets-girl situations. He had an unusual way of showing relations between men and women. Wilder died in March, 2002. A current Hollywood producer said: “Billy Wilder made movies that people will never forget.”

    Sitting is an art that isn't getting passed along. People these days feel as though they have to be doing something. If they are not working, they are jogging, or playing tennis or golf to guard against illnesses, or taking courses to improve their minds or bodies -- or they are parked in front of the TV. Sitting in front of the TV isn't sitting -- it's watching.

    People used to sit a whole lot. You would walk down the street or drive down the road, and there they would be, out on the doorsteps, sitting. You could go to the grocery to buy some garlic or some fruits and vegetables and sit on the bench out front m the summer or around the fire in the winter. You could go down to the store to buy an outer garment, an electric grill or anything else. There were sitting benches out in the town square. At the garage, there were straight-backed chairs. There among the oilcans and tires and spare parts, you could kick back and sit.

    Houses used to have sitting rooms, where the grown-ups would go after Sunday dinner. Mom and Dad, Grandpa and Aunt Ruby would gather round, sit and digest (消化) the fried chicken and talk about Aunt Ethel's illness, and how well the minister did today. They may just talk a load of garbage and even gesture with their hands when they become excited. Outside, the younger generation, the children would play on the ground, and the afternoon would pass by in a comfortable haze（ 悠闲的氛围).

    That sort of thing looks like doing nothing. A recharging battery (正充电的电池) doesn't look as if it's doing anything either. Sitting restores your soul. If you want to enjoy a truly full life, don't just do something--sit there.

    This March is a busy month in Shanghai. There's a lot to do. Here are the highlights.

Live Music - Late Night Jazz

    Enjoy real American jazz from Herbie Davis, the famous trumpet player. He's coming with his new 7-piece band, Herbie's Heroes.  Herbie is known to play well into the early hours, so don't expect to get much sleep. This is Herbie's third visit to Shanghai. The first two were sold out, so get your tickets quickly.

    PLACE: The Jazz Club DATES: 15-23 March PRICE: ￥80,120 TIME: 10:00p.m. till late! TEL: 6466-8736

Scottish dancing

    Take your partners and get ready to dance till you drop. Scottish dancing is fun and easy to learn. Instructors will demonstrate the dances. The live band, Gordon Stroppie and the Weefrees, are also excellent.

    PLACE: Jack Stein's DATES: every Monday PRICE: Y60 including one drink TIME: 7:00 - ~0:00 p.m. TEL: 6402-1877

Exhibitions - Shanghai Museum

    There are 120,000 pieces on show here. You can see the whole of Chinese history under one roof. It's always interesting to visit, but doubly so at the moment with the Egyptian Tombs exhibition. There are lots of mummies and more gold than you've ever seen before. Let us know if you see a mummy move!

    PLACE: Shanghai Museum PRICE: ￥30 (￥ 15 for students) TEL: 6888-6888 DATES: daily TIME: Monday - Friday 9:00a.m. - 5:00p.m., Weekends 9:00a.m. - 9:00p.m.

Dining - Sushi chef in town

    Sushi is getting really big in Shanghai. In Japan, it's become an art form. The most famous Sushi 'artist' is Yuki Kamura. She's also one of the few female chefs in Japan. She'll be at Sushi Scene all of this month.

    PLACE: Sushi Scene in the Shanghai Hotel DATES: all month PRICE: ￥200 TIME: lunch time TEL: 6690-3211

    For a full listing of events, see our website.

Not only is second-hand shopping good for the planet and your wallet, but new research finds that the more conscious(关注的) of style you are, the more likely you are to shop for second-hand clothes.

It is often assumed that those who shop for second-hand clothes do so to save money or reduce their impact on the environment. In fact, according to the research. style-consciousness is a bigger predictor of second-hand shopping than frugality or eco-consciousness.

Style-consciousness is very different from fashion-consciousness. Fashion is all about the "new" , and is constantly evolving. Style, on the other hand, is about expressing long-term individual identity.

Fashion shoppers are used to a continuous supply of new trends and fast fashion products. Fast fashion works quickly to replicate ( 复制) an ever-moving stream of fashion trends, generating large volumes of low-quality clothes. The impact of fast fashion on the environment is significant and well-documented. Globally ,the fast fashion industry creates 92 million tons of waste per year. Less than 15 percent of clothes are recycled or reused.

A style-conscious person expresses themselves through their clothes. These shoppers want second-hand clothes that show their personal style and values. They look for authentic and original pieces and avoid mainstream trends and fast fashion. They buy clothes that are timeless, well-made and all ow them to express their individual identity.

Going against the fast fashion trend, growing numbers of people are shopping for second-hand clothing. And the number of second-hand stores is also increasing. The research suggests much of this growth is due to shoppers considering themselves to be style-conscious.

We hope with increasing numbers of second-hand stores, markets and online platforms selling a range of quality, pre-loved clothes at different price points for different budgets—coupled with the growing acceptance of second-hand shopping—shoppers will consider buying second-hand more often. Not only are you helping the planet, you are also likely to be doing it with style.