【正文】 international friends, I l earn m ore about this cul tural “body language”. Not al l cul tures greet each other the same way, nor are they fortabl e i n the sam e way wi th touchi ng or di stance between people. In the sam e way that peopl e m uni cate wi th spoken l anguage, they also express their feelings using unspoken “l(fā) anguage” through physical distance, actions or posture. English peopl e, for exam pl e, do not usual y stand very cl ose to others or touch strangers as soon as they m et. H owever, peopl e from pl aces l i ke Spai n, Ital y or South Am eri can countri es approach others cl osel y and are more l ikel y to touch them. Most peopl e around the worl d now greet each other by shaki ng hands, but som e cul tures use other greeti ngs as wel , such as the Japanese, who prefer to bow. These acti ons are not good or bad, but are sim pl y ways i n whi ch cultures have devel oped. I have seen, however, that cul tural custom s for body l anguage are very general not al l m em bers of a cul ture behave in the sam e way. In general , though, studyi ng i nternati onal custom s can certai nly hel p avoid difficul ties in today’s worl d cul tural crosroads! Showi ng our feel ings Body l anguage i s one of the m ost powerful s of m uni cati on, often even m ore powerful than spoken l anguage. Peopl e around the worl d show al knds of feel i ngs, wi shes and atti tudes that they m ight never speak aloud. It i s possi bl e to “read” others around us, even i f they do not i ntend for us to catch thei r unspoken m uni cati on. O f course, body l anguage can be mi sread, but m any gestures and acti ons are uni versal . The m ost uni versal faci al expressi on i s, of course, the sm il e – it’s function i s to show happi nes and to peopl e at ease. It does not al ways m eans that we are trul y hapy, however. Smi l es around the worl d can be fal se, hi di ng other feel ings l i ke anger, fear or worry. There are unhappy smi l es, such as when som eone “l(fā) oses face” and smi l es to hide i t. H owever, the general purpose of smi li ng i s to show good feli ngs. From the tim e we are babi e, we show unhappi ness or anger by frowni ng. In m ost pl aces around the worl d, frowni ng and turni ng one’s back to som eone show anger. Maki ng a fist and shaki ng i t al om ost m eans that som eone i s angry and threateni ng another person. There are m any ways around the worl d to show agrem ent, but nodding the head up and down s for agreem ent al m ost worl dwide. Most peopl e al so understand that shaki ng the head from si de to si de m eans disagreement or refusal . How about showing that I am bored? Looki ng away from people or yawning wi l , in most cases, m ake me appear to be uni nterested. However, i f I turn toward and l ook at someone or something, people from alm ost every culture wi l thi nk that I am interested. If I rol l my eyes and turn m y head away, I m ost likel y do not bel ieve what I am heari ng or do not like it. Being respectful to people is subjective, besed on each culture, but in general it is probably not a good i dea to give a hug to a boss or teacher. In alm ost every cul ture, it is not usual y good to stand too cl ose to som eone of a hi gher rank. Standing at a l ittle di stance wi th open hands wi l show that I am wil li ng to li sten. With so many cultural sti ck. Thi s character was a soci al fai l ure but was loved for hi s opti mi sm and determi nati on to over e al l di fi cul ti es. H e was the underdog who was ki nd even when others were unki nd to hi m. H ow di d the li ttl e tram p m ake a sad si tuation entertai ni ng? H ere i s an exam pl e from one of his m ost fam ous film s, The Gol d Rush. It is the m i dni eenth century and gol d has just been di scovered i n Cal i forni a. Li ke so many others, the l i tl e tram p and hi s fri end have rushed there in search of gol d, but without success. Instead they are hi ding i n a sm al l hut on the edge of a m ountai n duri ng a snowstorm wi th nothi ng to eat. They are so hungry that they try boi li ng a pai r of l eather shoes for thei r di nner. Charl i e first pi cks out the l aces and eats them as i f they were spaghetti . Then he cuts off the l eather top of the shoes as i f i t were the fi nest steak. Fi nal ly he tri es cutti ng and chewi ng the bottom of the shoe. H e eats each m outhful wi th great enjoym ent. The acti ng is so convi nci ng that it m akes you beli eve that it i s one of the best m eals he has ever tasted! Charl i e Chapl i n wrote, di rected and produced the fi lm s the starred i n. In 1972 he was gi ven a speci al O scar for hi s outstandi ng work i n film s. H e l ived i n Engl and and the USA but spend hi s l ast years i n Swi tzerl and, where he was buri ed i n 1977. H e is l oved and rem em bered as a great actor who coul d i nspi re people with great confi dence. AN APRI L FOOL’ S JOKE: THE NOODLE HARVEST April Fool’s day, or April 1st, i s known i n many countri es as a day for pl aying jokes on others. It i s usual y a tim e when chi l dren m ake fun of each other, but som eti mes other peopl e can get caught i n the fun to. O ne of the most famous jokes i n Engl and took pl ace on Bri ti sh tel evi sion i n 1957. It was a Monday ni ght when there were al ways m any seri ous program m es on the tel evisi on. O ne of them was cal l ed Panoram a, thi s show expl ored probl em s and progress al l over the worl d, so nobody was surprised when it began wi th a report on the excel ent noodl e harvest i n the south Swi tzerl and. The programm e m enti oned two reasons for the good crop: an unusual l y warm wi nter and the di sapearance of the i nsect that attacked the nodl e crop every year. The reporter showed m any noodle trees wi th the farm ers pul ing nodl es off them and putti ng them into baskets. The peopl e watching were tol d that they m ay not have heard of noodl es from thi s part of the worl d be