One day, I heard an American boy said to a Chinese girl student, "You speak very good English. " But the girl answered, " No, no. My English is very poor. " The foreigner was quite surprised at the answer. Thinking he had not made himself understood or the girl had not heard him clearly, he said, " Yes, indeed, you speak very well. " But the girl still kept saying, "No. " In the end, the American boy could not understand and didn't know what to say.

    What's wrong with the girl's answer? She didn't accept a compliment(夸奖) in the same way as the American people do. She should answer, "Thank you" instead of “No". She really understood what the American boy had said, but she thought she should be modest. In the west, people will feel proud and confident when they are praised. So if someone says the dishes you have cooked are very delicious, you should say, "Thank you.”

    Inour country, we think being modest is a virtue（美德）and being proud is a bad thing, but in my opinion, being confident does not mean being proud, so sometimes you should be confident instead of being modest.

    If you are modest and say, "No, I'm afraid I can't do it well", while working in a western country, the others may think that you really cannot do it. If you often say, “No”, you will certainly be looked down upon by others. When asking for a job, if one says something like‘'Yes,I can certainly do it”instead of “let me have a try”，he or she will expect to get it. So in the west, you should be brave to show your self-confidence。

    Different countries have different eating habits.There is a saying “Eat good things for breakfast, eat a big meal for lunch, but eat less at dinner.” in China.Many Americans agree that one should start the day with a good breakfast, but their ideas about lunch and dinner are different.

    Most Americans only give themselves a short time for lunch because they have not so much long time to have a rest at noon. So they eat a small lunch. After work they will have more time to eat a big dinner. Also a quiet dinner at home with all the family talking about their day is a way to take a good rest after a long, hard day of work.

    Eating at restaurants is also different. In China, people like to talk and laugh while eating. Very often you can hear people talking and laughing loudly, and they just having a good time. In America it is not like this. They want a quiet place where they can eat a good meal far away from the noises of the outside world．If someone is talking too loudly, the manager of the restaurant will look at him or her angrily. If some people are talking too loudly, the manager of the restaurant may come out and ask them to be quiet.

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    The most famous food in Korca is kimchi（泡 菜）. It is the food they eat every day. Also, there are about 190 kinds of kimchi. There are different kinds is of kimchi for different seasons of the year. For example, in spring, watery kimchi, which is called mool kimchi, and Chinese cabbage are popular. In summer, young radish(萝卜) kimchi which is called chong kaik kimchi and cucumber(黄瓜)kimchi are common.

    Korea is a small country. There are not enough fields to grow vegetables. In winter, it often snows and it is very cold.  In the old days, people there found pepper was very good for them. They also found salty water could help them keep cabbage longer, so they mixed pepper, salt and cabbage together. They named it kimchi.

    Today, lots of things are added to kimchi, such as fish, letuce, pears, apples and other ingredients. Some scientists say kimchi is very good for health, but others don't agree. What do you think of it?

    All around the world, people drink tea. But tea does not mean the same thing to everyone. In different countries people have very different ideas about drinking tea.

    In China, for example, tea is always served when people get together. The Chinese drink it at any time of the day at homes or in tea houses. They prefer their tea plain with nothing else in it.

    Tea is also important in Japan. The Japanese have a special way of serving tea called a tea ceremony（仪式). It is very old and full of meaning. Everything must be done in a special way in the ceremony. There is even a. special room for it in Japanese homes.

    Another tea-drinking country is England. In England, the late afternoon is "teatime". Almost everyone has a cup of tea then. The English usually make tea in a teapot and drink it with cream and sugar. They also eat cakes, cookies and little sandwiches at teatime.

    In the United States people drink tea mostly for breakfast or after meals. Americans usually use tea bags to make their tea. Tea bags are faster and easier than making tea in teapots. In summer, many Americans drink cold tea—"iced tea". Sometimes they drink iced tea from cans, like soda.