If you're dreaming of visiting one of those picture-perfect European towns filled with old-world attractiveness and scenic beauty, here is a look at the most beautiful small towns in Europe.

    Manarola

    Manarola, Italy, is filled with rainbow-colored homes carved right into a wall of stone along the Mediterranean coast. This charming fishing town is famous for its unbelievable wine, and the paintings. There are no cars here, no traffic lights, or traffic noise. You can drive to Manarola, but you'll have to park just outside the town and then take a shuttle bus or walk in on foot.

    Garmisch-Partenkirchen

    Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, is a fascinating mountain town. Once two separate towns, one Roman and the other Teutonic, the 1936 Winter Olympics forced them to combine, though the two sides still have different characters. The town dates back to 15 AD, filled with narrow, cobblestoned streets lined with historic three or four-story buildings painted with regional and religious scenes.

    Marsaxlokk

    The energetic trading port of Marsaxlokk, Malta, was built in 900 BC. Today, this pictures-like town is the main supplier of fish to the island nation that sits in the Mediterranean Sea. It has no modern buildings to ruin its appeal. With such quiet surroundings, including the traditional luzzu's (fishing boats), it's a particularly charming place to visit.

    Portmagee, Ireland

    In a country filled with beautiful towns, Portmagee, is a standout, sitting on the southwest coast of Ireland. This postcard-perfect seaside fishing town has a row of brightly colored buildings along with a rich and colorful history. At The Bridge Bar, you'll find live music many nights of the week along with fantastic food and a fine glass of beer.

A Koala Isn't a Bear

    Koalas remind people of teddy bears. They have thick fur and large ears. Their broad, flat nose makes them look cute, similar to teddy bears. In fact, koalas aren't cute. They have sharp teeth and very sharp claws! Koalas are marsupials. This means the mother carries her baby in a pocket while it develops, similar to a kangaroo. The baby koala lives in its mother's pocket for the first six months of its life.

    The name “koala” comes from a native Australian word that means “no drink”. The koalas get almost all their water from the eucalyptus (桉树) leaves they eat. That's where they get their food too. Koalas eat only eucalyptus leaves, and only the leaves of certain eucalyptus trees. The eucalyptus trees are where the koalas live. It's also where they sleep. Koalas sleep about nineteen hours a day!

    Why do they sleep so much? Some people think it's because they're lazy. But koalas aren't lazy. They sleep so much because there isn't much nutrition in eucalyptus leaves. Koalas store hardly any fat, so they must save their energy. One way to do this is to move slowly and sleep a lot.

    After a day of sleeping, they like to move around and eat just after sunset. They live alone most of the time. Koalas are very protective of their trees. If a koala sees another koala eating in its favorite tree, it might tell the other koala to leave by “barking” at it. Koalas do “talk” to each other. Besides barks, the males make a deep grunting sound. The mothers and babies talk in soft clicking sounds. If they get scared, they may scream like a baby.

    We've all been blamed (责备) wrongly sometimes in our lives. How do we deal with it? Not with anger, hurt and tears, but in a collected way…

    If you are wrongly blamed, let others know of the true state of things at once. Do it calmly and clearly — if you lose your temper, people will stop listening or become defensive.

    If you don't find a sympathetic ear, find a person who will hear you out — a teacher, a parent, a friend, or a brother or sister who believes in you.

    If you've been in trouble before, it may be easy for people to doubt you. So win your respect back in their eyes by behaving with honesty.

    If what you are blamed for is something unimportant, sometimes it's better to smile it off.

    If you've been blamed for something serious, it's important to put your side of the story forward quickly and truthfully.

    Just remember:

    Respect your friends' secret if you don't want to be wrongly blamed for making them known.

    Don't blame others without first getting proof of their wrong doing.

    Putting the blame on someone else for what you have done wrong is weakness. Admit your mistake quickly.

    If someone else is wrongly blamed, stand up for that person.

    Don't pass the responsibility to others.

    Christmas is a great time with family and friends. One of the best ways to bond with (团结)one another is through games. So why not play some great Christmas party games?

    Present pickup is a great game for both young and young at heart. It can be played inside or outside. To prepare for the game, you will need to have some small boxes and some small gift bags. This is a great way to use the paper from last year. There should be as many presents as players. You'll also need four or more candy canes(甘蔗). Two large boxes can be used to drop the presents in.

    Two ropes will be needed. Take one rope and make a starting line. The other rope will mark the finish line. Place the large boxes at the finish line. Equally divide the presents into two groups. It's best to have an equal number of boxes and bags on each side to make it fair.

    The first player on each team will take two candy canes. When it's time to start, they'll pick up the presents only using the candy canes. Each player must run his present to the box or finish line and drop it in. If it's dropped on the way, the player starts over. After they drop their presents, the players will run the candy canes to the next players. This continues until all the presents have been picked up. The first team to finish wins.

    To play kids against adults, you may want to put easier presents in a group for the kids and more difficult ones for the adults. There are many variations to the game, so have some fun and come up with your own.

    In 1994 I wrote a letter. I stuck it in an envelope, put it away and completely forgot about it. It wasn't until we moved into our new home in 2006 that I found it again. It was addressed to me with explicit instructions not to open until my birthday 2005. It was now 2006 so I decided to open it. This is what it said: Dear Sherri.

    By the time you read this you will be 30. At the age of 18 I had so many hopes and dreams about where you'd be, what you'd be doing and with whom you'd spend your life with.

    Right now I hope that you have traveled and seen everything you've always wanted to, both in Canada and overseas, and maybe even settled down somewhere in Australia doing some research in the field of biology (genetics).I hope you're married to the man of your dreams. The man of mine is Gwynn. He is originally from South Africa (another place I wish to visit).

    However, if things don't go according to plan for you, I wish you all the love, happiness and joy in the world and don't settle for anything less than the best since that is absolutely what you deserve.

    Live long, be happy and live life to it's fullest.

    Love Sherri "18"

    When I read this for the first time since writing it I was floored. Even now having dug this up again another 4 years later I still can't help but think this is really cool. So much of what I wanted for myself has materialized. I did travel to a few more places in Canada although I haven't seen everything I'd like to.

    I did marry the man of my dreams and yes he still is my one and only. I lived in Australia for nearly 4 years, I had a career in Biology in the field of genetics for 10 years. I have two lovely kids I have not one dog but two dogs. Gwynn is a computer programmer.

    I suppose these were things that I really did want. Having never strayed too far from home overseas travel was a huge deal. Having never been away from my family moving to Australia for several years was an huge decision. I find it fascinating how the dreams of a young and naive little girl can become a grown woman's reality.

    How about writing a letter now to yourself in, say, 10 years from now? It's an interesting experiment.

    On March 25, 2010, Kate and David heard the words every parent dreads: Their newborn wasn't going to make it. Their twins­a girl and a boy­were born two minutes apart and 14 weeks premature, weighing just over two pounds each. Doctors had tried to save the boy for 20 minutes but saw no improvement. His heartbeat was nearly gone, and he'd stopped breathing. The baby had just moments to live.

    "I saw him gasp (喘息), but the doctor said it was no use," Kate told the Daily Mail five years later. "I know it sounds stupid, but if he was still gasping, that was a sign of life. I wasn't going to give up easily."

    Still, the couple knew this was likely a goodbye. In an effort to cherish her last minutes with the tiny boy, Kate asked to hold him.

    "I wanted to meet him, and for him to know us," Kate told Today. "We'd resigned ourselves to the fact that we were going to lose him, and we were just trying to make the most of those last, precious moments."

    Kate unwrapped the boy, whom the couple had already named Jamie, from his hospital blanket and asked David to take his shirt off and join them in bed. The first-time parents wanted their son to be as warm as possible and hoped the skin-to-skin contact would improve his condition. They also talked to him.

    "We were trying to persuade him to stay," Kate told the Daily Mail. "We explained his name and that he had a twin that he had to look out for and how hard we had tried to have him."

    Then something miraculous happened. Jamie gasped again­and then he started breathing. Finally, he reached for his father's finger.

    The couple's lost boy had made it.

    "We're the luckiest people in the world," David told Today.

    Eight years later, Jamie and his sister, Emily, are happy and healthy. The couple only recently told the kids the story of their birth. "Emily burst into tears," Kate said. "She was really upset, and she kept hugging Jamie. This whole experience makes you cherish them more."