Teenagers in England do much the same as children in America do. They enjoy sending messages by their mobile phones and they also like swimming, listening to the latest music, watching TV and surfing the Internet.

How do teenagers in England spend their free time and holidays? Let’s follow Sally, a British teenager, and spend five days with her during her school holiday.

Day One

After breakfast, Sally’s mother went out and left her alone at home. She checked her mobile phone during lunch—one of her friends sent her a message early in the morning. Dinner was at 6:30 pm. After that, she finished her English homework. Then she surfed the Internet.

Day Two

Sally and her mother paid a visit to their friends and went swimming together. Later, they went shopping for clothes and books, and had dinner in a restaurant.

Day Three

She went to the supermarket with her mother to buy fish and chips for lunch as well as some pens. After she got back home, she spent the next few hours surfing the Internet and watching TV.

Day Four

She surfed the Internet. Her mother took her out for lunch before she went to work. She then read stories after lunch.

Day Five

She woke up at 2 pm, and so did her mother. They went to a park. Her mother met some friends there. When they got home, it was already time for dinner. Afterwards, she did her homework until 10 pm.

Living in the moment is not always easy. Sometimes our thoughts are overwhelmed by regrets about past events or anxiety about the future, which can make it hard to enjoy the present. If you are having a hard time living in the moment, there are some simple strategies that may help.

●Change a routine.【小题1】One way that you can become more aware is to change up your routine. You can do something as simple as changing the way that you drive to work or changing the way you introduce yourself.

●Learn how to meditate (冥想). Meditation is a great way to train your brain to live in the moment. Learning to meditate takes time, practice, and guidance. 【小题2】. If no classes are available, you can also buy CDs that will help you learn how to meditate.

●Be grateful for breaks. Instead of becoming impatient when you have to wait for something, practise being grateful for the extra time to notice your surroundings.【小题3】For example, if you have to wait in a long line to purchase your morning coffee, take that time to observe your surroundings. As you do so, think about what you are grateful for in that moment.

●【小题4】Performing random acts of kindness can help you to live in the moment by refocusing your attention on what’s happening in front of you. Look for small things that you can do to show kindness to others. The kind acts that you perform will help you to slow down and notice your surroundings.

●Smile and laugh more often. Living in the moment can be a challenge if you are in a bad mood or just feeling a little down, but smiling and laughing can make you feel better even you force yourself to smile and laugh.【小题5】

Last spring I talked to a particularly patient and helpful salesman at the local cellphone store about how to access international service, since I was headed to Zurich, Switzerland, in June. He was excited and told me his grandfather came from Basel.

“If I get there,” I promised, “I’ll send you a postcard.”

I’m not sure whether he knew what a postcard was, nor do I remember the last time I sent a postcard. The last one I received, I know, was a lonely one posted by friends visiting Africa a few years ago. They were back a good two months before their card fell into my mailbox, looking as if it might have walked and swum the distance on its own.

Postcards filled my childhood and early adulthood. I sent plenty of them home and to friends on my ravels and collected scores from all comers of the globe. Places I’d been or hadn’t, it didn’t really matter.

But who sends postcards anymore? What do postcards matter when you can see any place with the Internet?

By his expression, I knew my cellphone customer representative wasn’t expecting me to follow through. And I didn’t, the following June, for I failed to find s single postcard of Basel in Zurich. But then I went to Basel in September and I chose and sent two postcards in care of my acquaintance(相识的人)there.

Over the next few months, I wondered if he’d gotten them, but I had no reason to visit the store until today, when I couldn’t manage some of my smartphone’s sound settings. And there he was. He didn’t recognize me at first, but once I realized it was him I asked, “Did you get the postcards from Basel?”

He looked at me with fresh and astonished eyes. “Oh, it’s you! I’ve got them posted in my room. My mom loves them, too. I never thought you were serious.”

That’s one reliable customer-relations bond followed through thanks to two small postcards from a grandfather’s birthplace.