You've just come home, after living abroad for a few years. Since you've been away, has this country changed for the better—or for the worse?

    If you've just arrived back in the UK after a fortnight's holiday, small changes have probably surprised you—anything from a local greengrocer suddenly being replaced by a mobile-phone shop to someone in your street moving house.

    So how have things changed to people coming back to Britain after seven, ten or even 15 years living abroad? What changes in society can they see that the rest of us have hardly noticed—or now take for granted? To find out, we asked some people who recently returned.

    Debi: When we left, Cheltenham, my home town, was a town of white, middle-class families—all very conservative (保守的). The town is now home to many eastern Europeans and lots of Australians, who come here mainly to work in hotels and tourism. There are even several shops only for foreigners.

    Having been an immigrant (移民) myself, I admire people who go overseas to find a job. Maybe if I lived in an inner city where unemployment was high, I'd think differently, but I believe foreign settlers have improved this country because they're more open-minded and often work harder than the natives.

    Christine: As we flew home over Britain, both of us remarked how green everything looked. But the differences between the place we'd left behind and the one we returned to were brought sharply into focus as soon as we landed.

    To see policemen with guns in the airport for the first time was frightening—in Cyprus, they're very relaxed—and I got pulled over by customs officers just for taking a woolen sweater with some metal-made buttons out of my case in the arrivals hall. Everyone seemed to be on guard. Even the airport car-hire firm wanted a credit card rather than cash because they said their vehicles had been used by bank robbers.

    But anyway, this is still a green, beautiful country. I just wish more people would appreciate what they've got.

    Before coming to France, I always thought that French people wear formal clothes. But, when I arrived in Paris, I came to know why France could remain the lead in world fashion and Paris could attract so many designers (设计师) from all over the world to come.

    On the boulevard of Champs-elysees, there are many fashion shops of famous brands, such as Chanel, Dior, Pierre Cardin. In daily life, however, most of Parisians never wear clothes like those on the super models. On the opposite (相反), I found people in Paris often dress in very simple designs and usually in dark.

    Such situation doesn't affect French designers to create more and more new styles. But I would say people in Paris dress more formally than those in the rest of France. In other French cities, what people wear are usually casual (休闲) dresses, such as T-shirts and jeans.

    French people act as the fashion leaders, but they accept other clothes styles as well. Montpellier, the city I live in, is in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. Here are many immigrants (移民) from Algeria, Morocco and other African countries. The Arabian and African cultures are influential (有影响的) in this city. Therefore, you can find a lot of young people dress in the North African style.

    Four years ago, we asked ourselves: what if we could create a shopping experience with no waiting in lines and no checkout? Or could we create a physical store where customers could simply take what they want and go? Our answer to those questions is Amazon Go, where you could experience the idea of "just walk out shopping".

    Amazon Go is a new kind of store with no checkout required. We created the world's most advanced shopping technology, so you never have to wait in line. With our "just walk out shopping" experience, simply use the Amazon Go app to enter the store, take the products you want, and go! No lines, no checkout.

    Our checkout-free shopping experience is made possible by the same types of technologies used in self-driving cars: computer vision, sensor fusion, and deep learning. Our “ just walk out technology ” automatically detects when products are taken from or returned to the shelves and keeps track of them in your virtual cart. When you have done shopping, you can just leave the store. Shortly after, we'll charge your Amazon account and send you a receipt.

    We offer delicious ready-to-eat breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack options made fresh every day by our on-site chefs and favorite local kitchens and bakeries. Our selection of food stuff ranges from bread and milk to cheeses and locally made chocolates. You'll find well-known brands we love, plus special finds we're excited to introduce to customers. For a quick home-cooked dinner, pick up one of our chef-designed Amazon Meal Kits, and you can make a meal for two in about 30 minutes.

    Our 1,800-square-foot shopping space is conveniently compact, so busy customers can get in and out fast. It is located at 2131, 7th Ave, Seattle, WA, on the corner of 7th Avenue and Blanchard Street. All you need is an Amazon account, a supported smart phone, and the free Amazon Go app.

    Amazon Go is currently only open to Amazon employees in our testing program, and will be open to the public soon.

Prague VS Vienna: Which One to Visit?

    Prague and Vienna are both wonderful and exciting cities with modern cosmopolitanism and ancient history and culture. But if you've got a European vacation planned and are trying to decide which one of these amazing cities to visit, it can be daunting(困难)for sure.

    Sightseeing

    While both cities are rich in sightseeing adventures, Prague is definitely more beautiful as a city. You can walk along the Danube River for breathtaking views, sit in one of the many cafes that dot the urban landscape, and breathe in the amazing architecture  both old and modern that makes up this Central European metropolis(都市).Vienna is a hotbed of history, home to such great sites such as The Hofburg, Schonbrunn Palace and Gardens, and St. Stephen' S Cathedral.

    Shopping

    You most likely didn't travel all the way to Europe just to go shopping. But, if you happen to be a shopaholic, Vienna is definitely better. But be warned: fine goods you buy in Vienna will sometimes be three times more expensive than what they are in the United States or Canada.

    Cuisine

    When it comes to great dining, both cities are equally fascinating. Austrians are known for their love of sweets and pastries(糕点), which is reflected in the many bakeries, cafés, and restaurants scattered around Vienna. Some restaurants in either city offer local cuisine, though you're more likely to be eating a combination of Western European or even Americanized food. Bear in mind that Prague(being that it is in Central Europe)will be far less pricey than Vienna.

    Culture

    What do you hope to see on your trip? Palaces? Medieval Cathedrals? The Opera? How about museums? If you do happen to visit both cities, you'll find that culture equally as enriching. However, Vienna has more world—class museums which display the rich history of the area.

    The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, the world's longest sea-based project, comprises four parts: a 22.9-kilometer steel bridge, two artificial islands, a submerged sea tunnel extending for 6.7 kilometers, as well as leading bridges that connect the bridge to the cities.

    For a bridge project, designers prefer to build all the structure on the ground, and only choose the tunnel when there is no alternative. However, for the HZMB, the most practical design is to integrate bridge, island and tunnel to form a complete cross-sea channel.

    "The Pearl River Estuary （河口）holds a world-level shipping channel. Smooth traffic should be guaranteed. And the location is near the Hong Kong International Airport. With about 2,000 flights taking off and landing at the airport, the bridge cannot be built too high for safety reasons, said Meng Fanchao, chief designer of the project. ^"But you cannot have a submerged sea tunnel without any support. That forced us to build the artificial islands."

    Chinese engineers declared a trail in installing deep-immersed tunnel tubes. There is no model for us to refer to as all the cases are shallow-buried tubes, said Meng.

    "For lack of experience, the installation of the first tube lasted for 96 hours," said Yin Haiqing, deputy manager of the Project Management Department. "Everyone was exhausted when we made it."

    The 6.7-kilometer tunnel is the world's longest submerged sea tunnel.

    Two artificial islands, covering an area of 200,000 square meters, help create a smooth transition between bridge sections and tunnels. Different from traditional island, the engineers put 120 steel cylinders （圆柱）with a 22-meter diameter （直径）into the seabed, make out the shape of an island, and fill the island with soil. It is an innovative way they adopted to build the artificial island, making it firmer, more efficient and friendly to the marine ecology.

    The HZMB provides a fixed link between the two Chinese economic centres Hong Kong and Macau and the mainland of China at Zhuhai.

    Candace Payne's life changed forever in May 2017 when she posted a video of herself laughing crazily and wearing a mask. The video spread widely and "Mask Mom "became a household name.

    During the two years since that, Candace has published several books, starred in a TLC. web series and went on tour with Mandisa. She made appearances on late night talk shows, met J. J. Abrams and was able to fulfill a dream of taking her family to Disney World. It was a busy but joyful time.

    Her latest book is Consider It Joy. "I feel like people need a tool in their hands to actually get the joy they are fighting for, "Candace says, "The book can help you keep track of how much space and time you are devoting to things that aren't worth it in comparison to the joy that I know I could have."

    Getting joy is something that has always been important to Candace. "What the opportunity offered me was not a forced open door," Candace says, "Many people are trying desperately to push things open when they have to be obedient(顺从的) to the little things."

    Trusting herself has required being confident in saying no. She uses a simple tool to evaluate whether an opportunity is right to her. Candace says, "I have a balance beam (平衡木)where I'm asked to walk every single day as a mom, a wife, a speaker and an author. There are so many things I need to balance at a time. I have to realize what belongs there and what doesn't. The most important factor is joy."

    That's the heart behind the book Consider It Joy. "I really wanted to give people more than just advice about joy, Candace says, "I wanted to give them the ability to actually own it in their everyday life."