【正文】 i t is di ficul t for them to get top prices on the m arkets.” Many peopl e i n Engl and bel i eved thi s story. They rang the BBC to find out hoe to grow thei r own noodl e tree. They were tol d to “place a pi ece of nodle i n a ti n of tom ato sauce and hope for the best.” Thi s may sem very sil ly, but i n the 1950s very few Bri ti sh peopl e travel ed aboard for their holi days and even fewer of them ate noodl es. So i t seemed posible to im agine that noodl es grew on tre l ike appl es, pears and nuts. Peopl e al so trusted the Panorama programm e for its careful research and seri ous informati on. So they were shocked to fi nd the next day that they had al l beli eved an April Fool’s joke. Even today the report of the nodl e harvest i s rem em bered as one of the best April Fool’s jokes ever! Uni t 4 Comm unicat ion: No Probl em? Yesterday, another student and I, representi ng our uni versi ty’s student asoci ation, went to the Capi tal International Ai rport to meet thi s year’s i nternati onal students. They were i ng to study at Bei ji ng University. We should take them fi rst to thei r dormi tori es and then to the student cantee. After an hour of wai ti ng for their fli ght to arive, I saw several young people enter the wai ti ng area l ooking around curi ousl y. I stood for a mi nute watchi ng them and then went to greet them . The first person to arive was Tony Garcia from Col um bi a, cl osel y fol owed by Jul ia Smi th from Bri tai n. After I m et them and then introduced them to each other, I was very surprised. Tony approached Jul ia, touched her shoul der and ki ssed her on the chek! She stepped back appearing surpri sed and put up her hands, as i f in defence. I guessed that there was probabl y a m ajor m isunderstanding. Then Aki ra N agata from Japan came i n smi li ng, together wi th Gee Cook from Canada. As they were introduced, Gee reached hi s hand out to the Japanese student. Just at that m om ent, however, Akira bowed so hi s nose touched Gee’s movi ng hand. They both apol ogi zed another cul tural mi stake! Ahm ed Aziz, another i nternati onal student, was from Jordan. When we m et yesterday, he m oved very cl ose to me as I i ntroduced mysel f. I moved back a bi t, but he came closer to ask a questi on and then shook m y hand. When Darlene Coulon from France cam e dashi ng through the door, she recognized Tony Garci a39。s smi li ng face. They shok hand and then kissed each other twi ce on each cheek, si nce that i s the France custom when adul ts meet peopl e they know. Ahm ed Azi z, on the contrary, sim pl y nodded at the gi rl s. Men from Mi dle Eastern and other Musl im countries wil often stand qui te cl ose to other m en to tal k but wil l usual ly not touch women. As I get to know m ore i nternati onal fri ends, I l earn more about thi s cul tural “body language”. Not al cul tures greet each other the same way, nor are they fortabl e in the sam e way with touchi ng or di stance between peopl e. In the sam e way that peopl e m unicate wi th spoken l anguage, they also expres thei r feeli ngs usi ng unspoken “l(fā) anguage” through physi cal distance, acti ons or posture. Engl ish people, for example, do not usual y stand very cl ose to others or touch strangers as soon as they meet. H owever, people from pl aces li ke Spain, Italy or South Ameri can countri es approach others cl osel y and are m ore li kel 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 actions 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 m embers of a cul ture behave in the same way. In general, though, studying internati onal custom s can certainly help avoi d diffi cul ti es i n today’s world cultural crosroads! Showing our feel ings Body l anguage is one of the most powerful s of m uni cati on, often even more powerful than spoken l anguage. Peopl e around the worl d show al l knds of feli ngs, wi shes and atti tudes that they mi ght never speak al oud. It i s possi ble to “read” others around us, even if they do not i ntend for us to catch their unspoken m uni cati on. Of 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 expresion i s, of course, the sm il e – it’s functi on i s to show hapines and to peopl e at ease. It does not al ways means that we are truly happy, however. Smi les around the worl d can be fal se, hi di ng other feeli ngs l ike anger, fear or wory. There are unhappy smil es, such as when someone “l(fā) oses face” and smil es to hi de i t. However, the general purpose of smi li ng i s to show god feeli ngs. From the tim e we are babi e, we show unhapines or anger by frowni ng. In m ost places around the worl d, frowni ng and turni ng one’s back to som eone show anger. Making a fist and shaki ng i t al om ost m eans that som eone is angry and threateni ng another person. There are many ways around the worl d to show agreem ent, but nodding the head up and down s for agreem ent al most worldwide. Most people also understand that shaki ng the head from si de to si de m eans di sagrem ent or refusal. How about showi ng that I am bored? Looki ng away from peopl e or yawni ng wi l, i n m ost cases, make m e appear to be uni nterested. H owever, i f I turn toward and look at som eone or somethi ng, people from alm ost every cul ture wil thi nk that I am i nterested. If I rol m y eyes and turn my head away, I most l ikel y do not beli eve what I am heari ng or do not li ke i t. Bei ng respectful to peopl e is subjective, besed on each culture, but i n general it i s probabl y not a good i dea to give a hug to a boss or teacher. In alm ost every cul ture, i t i s not usual y g