【正文】 gh, studyi ng i nternati onal custom s can certainl y help avoid difficul ties in today’s worl d cul tural crossroads! Showi ng our feel i ngs 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 l knds of feel i ngs, wi shes and atti tudes that they mi ght never speak aloud. It i s posi 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 universal . The m ost uni versal faci al expression i s, of course, the smil 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 truly 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 hi de i t. H owever, the general purpose of smi li ng i s to show good feeli ngs. From the ti me 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 fi st and shaki ng i t alom 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 agreem ent, but nodi ng the head up and down s for agreem ent alm ost worl dwi de. Most peopl e al so understand that shaki ng the head from si de to si de m eans di sagreement or refusal . H ow about showi ng that I am bored? Looki ng away from peopl e or yawni ng wil , i n most cases, m ake m e apear to be uni nterested. H owever, i f I turn toward and l ook at som eone or somethi ng, peopl e from al m ost every culture wil l thi nk that I am i nterested. If I rol m y eyes and turn my head away, I m ost li kely do not beli eve what I am heari ng or do not li ke i t. Bei ng respectful to peopl e i s subjective, besed on each cul ture, but i n general it i s probably not a good i dea to gi ve a hug to a boss or teacher. In al most every cul ture, i t i s not usual l y good to stand too cl ose to som eone of a hi gher rank. Standi ng at a l i tl e di stance wi th open hands wil l show that I am wi li ng to l i sten. Wi th so m any cul tural di fferences between peopl e, it i s great to have som e si mi lariti es in body language. We can ofen be wrong about each other, so i t i s an am azi ng thi ng that we understand each others as wel as we do! TH E O PEN H AN DA UNICERSAL SIGN When m eti ng peopl e at the ai rport, m ost peopl e smi l e and shake hands wi th peopl e they m eet. We know that smi l e i s usual y a sign that people feel friendl y and happy, but what if we don’t know who the new person is? What if we are not introduced by a friend? What i f we are m eeti ng a stranger in a unfami li ar pl ace? Som eti m es peopl e are dangerous and hum ans have to find ways to protect themsel ves. We have to m ake sure we can trust peopl e we don’t know, and we have to show that we are not dangerous. Showi ng our hands m eans that we are not arm ed. In m any cul tures today, the Western custom of shaki ng hands i s used. We use our ri ght hand, whi ch i s usual l y strong than the l eft one. If we are usi ng our hand thi s way, i n cannot that i t m akes you bel i eve that i t i s one of the best m eal s he has ever tasted! Charl i e Chapl in wrote, di rected and produced the fil ms the starred i n. In 1972 he was gi ven a speci al O scar for hi s outstandi ng work i n fi lm s. H e li ved i n Engl and and the USA but spend hi s last years i n Swi tzerl and, where he was buri ed i n 1977. He i s l oved and rem em bered as a great actor who coul d i nspi re peopl e wi th great confi dence. AN APRI L FOOL’S JOKE: THE NOODLE HARVEST April Fool ’s day, or April 1st , i s known i n m any countri es as a day for pl ayi ng jokes on others. It i s usual l y a tim e when chi l dren m ake fun of each other, but som etim es other peopl e can get caught i n the fun too. O ne of the m ost fam ous jokes in Engl and took place on Bri tish tel evi si on i n 1957. It was a Monday ni ght when there were al ways m any seri ous programm es on the tel evi si on. O ne of them was cal ed Panoram a, thi s show expl ored probl em s and progress al over the worl d, so nobody was surpri sed when i t began wi th a report on the excel l 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 y warm wi nter and the disappearance of the i nsect that atacked the noodl e crop every year. The reporter showed m any noodl e trees wi th the farm ers pul ing nodl es off them and putting them i nto baskets. The peopl e watchi ng were tol d that they m ay not have heard of noodl es from thi s part of the worl d because noodl es were grown as part of sm al l fam il y businesses. The programm e makers makers real i zed that peopl e mi ght wonder why nodl es were al ways the sam e size so that they expl ained that “it was the resul t of m any years’ patient research with the tree to produce noodl es of exactl y the sam e l ength. ” But even so they explained, the l ife of a noodle farm er was not easy. “The l ast two weeks of March are an anxi ous tim e for noodl e farm ers. There i s al ways a chance of very col d weather spoil ing their crop. Then it is difficul t for them to get top prices on the m arkets. ” Many people i n Engl and bel i eved thi s story. They rang the BBC to fi nd out hoe to grow thei r own noodl e tree. They were tol d to “pl ace a piece of noodl e in a tin of tom ato sauce and hope for the best. ” This m ay seem very sil l y, but i n the 1950s very few Bri ti sh people travel ed aboard for thei r holi days and even fewer of them ate noodl es. So i t seem ed posi bl e to im agi ne that noodl es grew on tree li ke appl es, pears and nu