New Yorkers and visitors to the Big Apple will get to ring in the Lunar New Year，also known as Chinese New Year in the U．S．，in style with a fireworks display on the Hudson River set to music written by Academy Award﹣winning composer Tan Dun．

    The display is part of the second annual"Happy Chinese New Year：Fantastic Art China"festival held in New York on February 5﹣10，2016．The China Central Academy of Fine Arts （CAFA），the U．S．﹣China Cultural Institute and the Cultural Associate of the Committee of 100announced this year's events on November 18at a press conference at the Lincoln Center．

    The"Fantastic Art China"festival will feature a larger and more diverse series of artistic and cultural events across New York's top cultural venues （地点） and landmarks，including the Lincoln Center，Empire State Building and Jacob K．Javits Convention Center．

    This year's theme focuses on exploring the complicated relationship between sound and image，said Professor Yu Ding from CAFA，who is also president of Fantastic Art China and in charge of the festival's design．Lunar New Year，which celebrates the"Year of the Monkey"in 2016，is an opportunity to bring China's modern art to mainstream America，and the festival serves as  an innovative approach to establishing cultural exchange between China and New York City，Yu said．

    UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Tan Dun's music is a new edition that will be featured  at several venues，including a major art exhibition at the Javits Center，events at the Lincoln Center and the fireworks display on the Hudson，which will take place on the evening of February 6．Five barges （游艇） on the river will launch the fireworks designed by CAFA that will tell a story about celebration and conservation．

    "We Chinese are fond of nature，so the best way to celebrate the Lunar New Year is to salute with the sounds of nature，such as sounds of water，stone and bamboo，"said Tan Dun at the press conference，"And it will be fun to use the music of water during the firework display．"

    In addition to the fireworks，a special lighting show at the Empire State Building will illuminate New York City during the holiday．

    Chinese New Year is being recognized as a public school holiday for the first time in New York．Children from the National Dance Institute，which represents 75schools，will perform traditional Chinese dances at the Lincoln Center and the Javits Center．And，in celebration of the"Year of the Monkey"events will feature a conservation message about the endangered golden monkey in China．

    Proudly reading my words, I glanced around the room, only to find my classmates bearing big smiles on their faces and tears in their eyes. Confused, I glanced toward my stone-faced teacher. Having no choice, I slowly raised the report I had slaved over, hoping to hide myself. “What could be causing everyone to act this way?”

    Quickly, I flashed back to the day Miss Lancelot gave me the task. This was the first real talk I received in my new school. It seemed simple: go on the Internet and find information about a man named George Washington. Since my idea of history came from an ancient teacher in my home country, I had never heard of that name before. As I searched the name of this fellow, it became evident that there were two people bearing the same name who looked completely different! One invented hundreds of uses for peanuts, while the other led some sort of army across America. I stared at the screen, wondering which one my teacher meant. I called my grandfather for a golden piece of advice; flip (掷) a coin. Heads—the commander, and tails—the peanuts guy. Ah! Tails, my report would be about the great man who invented peanut butter, George Washington Carver.

    Weeks later, standing before this unfriendly mass, I was totally lost. Oh well, I lowered the paper and sat down at my desk,burningto find out what I had done wrong. As a classmate began his report, it all became clear, “My report is on George Washington, the man who started the American Revolution.” The whole world became quite! How could I know that she meant that George Washington?

    Obviously, my grade was awful. Heartbroken but fearless, I decided to turn this around. I talked to Miss Lancelot, but she insisted: No re-dos; no new grade. I felt that the punishment was not justified, and I believed I deserved a second chance. Consequently, I threw myself heartily into my work for the rest of the school year. Ten months later, that chance unfolded as I found myself sitting in the headmaster's office with my grandfather, now having an entirely different conversation. I smiled and flashed back to the embarrassing moment at the beginning of the year as the headmaster informed me of my option to skip the sixth grade. Justice is sweet!

Hello friends,

    This is Christmas Week, when you may have any emotions of happiness or sadness, pain or panic, fears or frustrations. Put the negative emotions aside and focus on building better relationships with our tips below.

    Relationship Tips for Getting Along at the Holidays

    1). Speak Your Love in Words. The best gift you can give another person is words of praise, thankfulness, and appreciation from your lips.

    2). Hear What Your Friends and Family are Voicing Their Stress. Listen carefully to those around you -- a gift that will lower their stress.

    3). Center Your Heart. Focus on the true, deeper meaning of the holiday season. This will help everyone become easier to get along with because the heart of Christmas will remain whole.

    4). Ask those who are celebrating with you what their expectations are. Communicate the plans clearly so people feel informed.

    5). Be prepared for changes. Don't be a Christmas Scrooge ordering family around. Instead slow the pace, be agreeable, and give choices so that you create an environment of connecting and sharing.

    6). Take Time for being Romantic. The greatest gift you can give your husband or wife, children, and friends is harmony at home.

    7). Express Your Joy. Make memories (and take lots of pictures) by making the most of all your relationships. Capture the best moments with your camera.

    Get the rest of the10 Holiday Tips from each of 14 Experts like this in Simplify Your Holiday Season, available HERE. Get one of the 50 free copies on a first-come, first-served basis or a 50% discount off $30 by Jan 1.2017.

    Mark Your Calendar（日历） for January 4 & 5 our free next online workshop "New Year, New You: Maximize Your Time, Minimize Your Weight."

    Have a very lovely Christmas and Happy New Year! I hope I prepared you well for Christmas, since over 1,000 people downloaded my 8 week Holiday Plan. I hope you were one of them and are peaceful and ready.

Warmly,

Marcia Ramsland, The Holiday Coach

www.OrganizingPro.com/Holidays

"Coaching Busy People to Make Every Day Count!"

    Insects(昆虫) are a very healthy food. They have almost as much protein(蛋白质) as meat from a pig or cow and are low in fat. Eating insects is also very good for the environment since they need less land and water than larger animals.

    Marcel Dicke, who studies insects, explained in a talk how insects also produce more meat from the food they eat. For example, imagine a farmer feeds a cow 10 pounds of food. Those 10 pounds of food produce about 1 pound of meat for people to eat. However, imagine the farmer gives a certain number of insects 10 pounds of food. Those 10 pounds of food produce 9 pounds of meat for people to eat!

    Eating more insects can also help people in poor areas. Many people can raise and sell insects, which can provide jobs and food.

    But insects will not replace animal meat very quickly. First, people in some countries would have to change how they think about eating insects. Many people in North America and Europe eat a lot of meat like beef and pork. But they do not traditionally eat insects. In fact, for many people in the west, eating insects sounds crazy. They believe insects are dirty and dangerous. Insects make them feel uncomfortable.

    Some people are trying to deal with this problem. For example, David George Gordon wrote a book named “The Eat-A-Bug Cookbook”, which tries to show people that insects can be delicious. Other insect experts travel around telling people about the benefits of eating insects. But they will still have a lot work to do.

Are you interested in working with animals? Now here comes the chance. Kirby Wildlife Park has set up the unique Keeper Experience. The fantastic experience is available to anyone over the age of 18 who is reasonably fit. We regret that for health and safety reasons, people who are pregnant, in a wheelchair or suffering from illness cannot take part.

A typical day

9:15 Arrival

9:30 Health and Safety Briefing

10:00 Apes and Monkeys

While cleaning out enclosures(围场), you will find out how to enrich enclosures with novel items and new smells to stimulate the animals' senses and imitate their natural environment.

12:00 Lunch

14:00 Big Cats

You will feed the cats and learn about their nutritional needs. The keeper will give you an introduction to how cats' behavior can be read to get an idea of their welfare and health.

16:30 Meet the Team

Meet more of the staff and learn how you can get further involved with work at the park. Learn about our animal adoption plan, what it takes to be good keeper and where to obtain the right qualifications for a career in animal welfare.

Booking and cancellation

The Keeper Experience is available on Mondays, Wednesday and Fridays throughout the year, and must be booked at least fourteen days in advance. Full payment is needed when booking.

Cancellations must be made more than one week before the event, or you won't receive a full refund.

A teenager needs to have a sense of independence in their life to feel secure(安全的). To some teenagers independence means a lot to them, and I think that some parents don't allow their teenagers enough independence.

Independence has something to do with freedom. Some kids are not allowed to go anywhere alone, and the only thing their schedule includes is going to school, coming home, going to sleep, and repeating the process the next day. Parents tend to be afraid that their kids can get hunt if they go outside into the world. But if parents control their kids too much, they may never learn to live on their own. The best way for a teenager to learn lesson is through experience. I think it is beneficial for teenagers to have freedom.

Teenagers' lack of freedom can also stop them from having good friendship at school. Some might say this is a good thing, because it helps them focus more on their school work. I argue that this can only discourage them not to do their school work. Some parents do not allow their children to be around their friends outside the school, thinking that this will get them into trouble. But I don't think so. Instead, isn't this a good reason for parents to get their children a cellphone? Cellphones allow teenagers to stay in touch with their parents, and communicate with friends.

Privacy is another issue between parents and their teenagers.Teenagers tend to enjoy relaxation by themselves in their own room. This also gives them a sense of independence. It often annoys teenagers when their parents enter their room when they are not home. I know that my mom always goes in my room when I'm not home, and this has brought me to the point where I have asked many times to get a lock on my door.