Living in the foreign culture can be exciting, but it can also be confusing. A group of Americans who taught English in other countries recently discussed their experiences. They discussed that miscommunications were always possible, even over something as simple as “yes”and“no”.
     On her first day in Micronesia, an island in the Pacific, Lisa thought the waitress wasn't paying any attention to her. The day was hot she went into a store and asked, "Do you have any cold drinks?" The woman there didn't say anything. Lisa repeated the question again. Still the woman said nothing. She later learned that the woman had answered her: She has raised her eyebrows, which in Micronesia, it means, "yes".
     Jan remembered an experience she had in Bulgaria, a country in Europe. She went to a restaurant that was known for its cabbage. She asked the writer,“Do you have cabbage today?”He nodded his head. Jan waited, but the cabbage never came. In that country, a nod means "no".
     Tom had a similar problem when he arrived in India. After explaining something in class, he asked his students if they understood. They answered with different nods and shakes of heads. He thought some people hadn't understood, so he explained again. When he asked again, they did the same thing. He soon found out that his students did understand. In India, people nod and shake heads in different ways. It depends on where they come from.

   We all need a healthy environment, but we produce waste every day and it does harm to our environment. Though we are young, we can still do something to help. In fact, even the simplest everyday activities can make a real difference to the environment. Here are some ideas for you to live a green life.
   Remember these three words: reduce, reuse and recycle. Reduce means “use less”. Don't waste things. This saves money and reduces pollution and waste going into the environment. Before we buy something new, think if it is really necessary or maybe the old one will be just as good! When we do buy things, choose local products if possible, and try not to buy too many things from abroad.
   Reuse means “use again”. Use things for as long as possible. When we buy things, make sure that they last a long time. We should take care of them so that they will last, and we should repair them if we can instead of throwing them away and buying new ones. Don't use a paper cup or a paper bag. It's better to use a china cup and a lunch box because you can use them again.
   Recycle means “change things into something else”. Although it takes energy to change something into something else, it's better than throwing things away or burning them. Find out what can be recycled in your neighbourhood and take part in recycling programmes. We should also buy products made from recycled materials, such as recycled paper, to help save trees.
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    Today we can use the Internet for many things: shopping, business, writing letters, talking to people, getting information and so on. In recent years, a new kind of English has grown on the Internet. There's no real word for it yet, so we call it e-talk.
    People don't like typing too much. To save time, they turn phrases into a few letters， acronyms(首字母缩略词). Acronyms are often used in chat rooms. Some are as follows:
    BRB (be right back), BTW (by the way), LOL (laughing out loud), IMO (in my opinion)
    People also use many abbreviations. They are shortened forms of words. Some common abbreviations include info (information), pic (picture), puter (computer), sec (second), etc.
    We usually don't see people when we communicate on the Net, so people have new ways to show feelings. Most people use their keyboards to draw "feelings", such as:
:-)  (happy)     ;-)  (joking)       :-(  (sad)        :-O  (surprised)
These days, many public discussions have picture feelings, for example:
    
(happy)           (sad)            (angry)           ( (cool)
    There are even whole new words, like "newbies"(someone who is new on a chat board or forum). When you write something bad about someone else, it's called "burning" the person.
    It takes time for people to get used to e-talk. Also, different groups on the Net have their own special ways of communicating. Newbies sometimes have to ask other people what they mean. As the Internet grows, e-talk will continue to grow and change.