“Do you believe in life after death?” Jack's boss asked Jack.

“Yes, Sir.”

“Well, then, that makes everything just fine,” the boss went on. “About an hour after you left yesterday to go to your grandfather's funeral(葬礼), he dropped in to see you.”

    Hello! I'm an America girl. My first name is Lucy. My last name is White. I'm in No.3 Middle School. My father and mother are in No.3 Middle School, too. They are English teacher. My brother is in NanKai University(大学). His name is Tony. I have a Chinese teacher. Her name is Wang Yan. She can speak(说) very good English. She is a good teacher.

    My name is Jack. When my family moved to America in 2014 from a small village in Guangdong, China, we brought not only our luggage, but also our village rules, customs as well as culture. One of the rules is that young people always respect elders. This rule, unfortunately, led to my very first embarrassment in America.

    I had a part-time job as a waiter in a Chinese restaurant. One time, when I was serving food to a middle-aged couple, the wife asked me how the food could be served so quickly. I told her that I had made sure they got their food quickly because I always respect the elderly. As soon as I said that, her face showed great displeasure. My manager, who happened to hear what I said, took me aside and gave me a long lecture about how sensitive Americans are and how they dislike the description "old". I then walked back to the table and apologized to the wife. After the couple heard my reason, they understood that the problem was caused by cultural differences, so they laughed and were no longer angry.

    In my village, however, people are proud of being old. Not so many people live to be seventy or eighty, and people who reach such an age have the most knowledge and experience. Young people always respect older people because they know they can learn from their rich experience.

    However, in the United States, people think "growing old" is a problem since "old" shows that a person is going to retire or that the body is not working well. Here many people try to keep themselves away from growing old by doing exercises or jogging, and women put on makeup, hoping to look young. When I told the couple in the restaurant that I respect the elderly, they got angry because this caused them to feel they had failed to stay young. I had told them something they didn't want to hear.

    After that, I changed the way I had been with senior citizens. It is not that I don't respect them anymore; I still respect them, but now I don't show my feelings through words.

    A few days ago, I walked into a stranger as he passed by. I said sorry to him, and we were very polite. Then we went on our way after saying goodbye.

    Later in the kitchen at home, as I cooked our meal, my daughter Betty walked up to me, very quietly. When I turned around, I nearly knocked her down. "Get out of the way!" I shouted angrily. She ran away, crying.

    That night, when I lay in bed, my husband said to me, "You were so rude to Betty. Go and look around on the kitchen floor, and you'll find some flowers there. Betty brought those for you. She picked them herself, pink, yellow, and your favourite blue."

    When I heard this, I thought deeply, "While meeting with a stranger, I was calm and polite; but with my daughter, I was not patient (耐心的). I felt sad and tears began to fall.

    I quietly went to Betty's bed, "Wake up, my dear," I said, "Are these the flowers you picked for me?" She smiled, "I found them by the tree. I knew you'd like them, especially the blue. " I said, "I am so sorry that I treated (对待) you that way today. " And she whispered (悄声说), "Mommy, that's okay. I still love you anyway. " I kissed her and said, "I love you too and I do love the flowers. "

    That day Betty gave me a lesson on how to get along with each other in the family. I spent much time on work before and didn't realize how important family life was. I decided to do better in the future.

    Mrs. White asks Monica, "Do you like to have a treasure hunt(寻宝游戏)?" "Yes, Mom," Monica says. Mrs White gives(给) her a green notes(便条). It says, "You can find books in it." Monica comes to the bookcase and sees a yellow note in it. It says, "You can sit on it."

    Monica comes to her bed, but she can't find a note. She comes to her chair and sees a red note. "You can put(放) your tape in it," it says.

    Monica comes to her tape player and sees an orange note next to it. It says, "Call 786-0987." Monica comes to the phone on the table and calls 786-0987. "Monica comes to the phone on the table and calls 786-0987." Hello? This is Aunt Maria."

    "Oh, Aunt Maria, my treasure is you!" says Monica.