I am from South Africa. I didn't at all know the weather here was so cold, but I am glad to say that I have all the clothes for this freezing weather.

When I First got to know that l would be attending this international conference here in Finland, I had no idea what kind of clothes I should take along. I didn't know what to do when I thought of this two-week stay here, with a very formal dinner, a few parties, social gatherings and a dance during the conference.

    Luckily, my friend Julia has been to northern Europe. Yes, she was a great help. She helped me with my biggest problem. She placed an order for some warm suits and dresses, business-type clothes, of course, of dark colors. She also bought me some skirts and blouses so that I could wear the same clothes in several different ways. A couple of lively colored dresses will give me a nice change from time to time. She also helped to choose a very warm raincoat and a pair of boots.

    Oh, how lucky I am to have such a helpful friend. She saved me a lot of trouble, nothing worries me about my meeting, nor my clothes.

    He is quiet and shy. He likes to hide his eyes behind his hair. He doesn't smile very often. However, if you talk to him about music, he'll have a lot to say.

This is Jay Chou, the 24-year-old Taiwanese pop king(天王). His fans are so excited because he will sing songs in Beijing on September 12. Those songs are from his new album(唱片), "Ye Huimei", and the album was released(发行) in July and was named after his mother.

    Chou grew up just with his mother. He did not talk much and did badly in many school subjects.

His mother noticed the boy's special interest in music and sent him to learn piano when he was only three years old. He loved it and kept on practicing.

Chou is not very handsome. He does not speak clearly when he sings or talks. But the singer has huge crowds of fans. "He is really good at music. It makes him attractive(有魅力的) to me," said Liu Jiajun, a Junior 2 student in NO.101 Middle School in Beijing.

    "He is true to himself. He never follows others," said Zhang Yujie, a Junior l girl at Huaibei Middle School in Sihon9, Jiangsu Province.

    What's that in the sky? Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's Hello Kitty.

That's how Lauren Rojas, 12, from the US thought of her science project. She sent her Hello Kitty doll into the sky early this month. She wanted to find out how altitude(高度) changed air pressure(气压) and temperature, according to New York Daily News.

    Rojas put the doll and a small computer into a rocket model, and then sent it up with a weather balloon(气球). The computer recorded the height, air pressure and temperature. Rojas also put in a video camera to record the trip.

    "It took about two or three weeks to put it all together," said Rojas. "I think people will think it (the video) is really cool."

    The balloon got to 28.5km above the Earth. At that height, the doll could see the blue curves(曲线) of our planet. The air was very thin up there, and soon the balloon broke up (爆炸). The doll fell from the sky and at last it ended up in a tree. It was 76km from the place where it had started its journey.

    An Englishman was showing a foreign visitor around London" What's that strange building?" asked the visitor. " That's the Tower(塔)of London" " I see. How long did it take to build it?" "About 500 years." "In my country we can build it in five months. "said the visitor. A short time after that they came to St. Paul's Cathedral (大教堂). "Very interesting!" said the visitor. "How long did it take to build it?" "Nearly forty years, "said the Englishman. "In my country we can finish it in forty days." said the visitor. This went on all day. They visited most of the best known buildings in the city. Every time they saw a new one, the visitor asked what it was and how long it took to build it. Then he said that they could do the same thing much faster in his country. At last the Englishman got angry with the visitor though he tried not to show it. A few days later they came to the House of Parliament(议会大厦)and the visitor asked his usual question. "What's that?" The Englishman answered, "I've no idea. It wasn't there last night. "