When I’m in Italy, I generally only eat Italian food. I doubt whether there’s another country in Europe that has food that can keep me coming back for more.

To eat well in Italy, finding the right restaurant is important. I like restaurants, run by people willing to share their love of good cooking, and places serving family recipes (食谱). Signs of a good restaurant include a low-rent location, lots of locals, and a small, handwritten menu in one language. The menu is small because they’re only selling everything they’re cooking; it’s handwritten because it’s shaped by what is fresh today in the market; and it’s in one language because they mostly serve locals.

For a fast and cheap lunch, I look for Italian food in corner delis (熟食店). Another choice is to drop by a neighborhood grocery store to pick up some cold cuts, cheeses, and other foods for a picnic.

Italians tend to spend a long time on each course, and dinner is the evening’s entertainment. For example, when you have a full-blown Italian dinner in a restaurant, you don’t get out until midnight; a three-hour meal is common. Waiters often provide lots of drinks that seem designed to keep you from leaving. When you want the bill, you’ll have to ask for it. To “eat and run” is seen as a lost opportunity.

A couple of years ago, I sat down at my favorite place in Verona, Enoteca Can Grande, with my friend and guide Franklin. We let the chef, Giuliano bring us whatever he wanted. Just after the antipasti (开胃食物) arrived, Franklin’s wife phoned him and said. “Don’t eat too much cheese or dessert.” Later Franklin, who was not thin, surveyed our table. Sighing, he said, “The foods are so plentiful but I can eat few.” “That’s a pity,” I said. I enjoyed the food for three hours and he watched me eating for three hours. Eating in Verona was really an amazing experience.

Chinese volleyball superstar Zhu Ting has inspired a new English word. "Stay awesome and ZHUperb!" wrote a blogger at a US-based volleyball website. The word combines "Zhu" and "superb (卓越的)", to describe the 27-year-old player.

Zhu's excellent scoring performances put her among the Top 10 Global Outstanding Athletes for this year's Heracles Prize of the Big Ben Award. As the captain, Zhu "created the new golden age of women's volleyball in China", the award said. Zhu is considered a national hero by many in China, with good reason. Before this year's World Cup victory, she helped the national volleyball team win the 2015 FIVB World Cup, the 2015 Asian Women's Volleyball Championship, and the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

Although she's a superstar now, it hasn't been easy for Zhu to get to where she is. Born to a farming family in Henan province, Zhu earned a chance to attend a local sports school at age 13. She became well known to the public by helping China's U20 team win the 2013 FIVB U20 World Championship. Shortly after, Zhu joined the national team and began playing under legendary coach Lang Ping.

At first, the 1. 98-meter-tall Zhu found it difficult to move quickly and stay balanced. But Lang Ping took advantage of her height and trained her to jump high and smash balls. Her work paid off. Zhu is now an outstanding player. "Hard work and talent are equally important. I'll move forward step by step," she told People's Daily.

From homeless to Harvard … it’s an unlikely turn of events. Liz Murray’s life is a triumph (胜利) over misfortune, and an amazing example of the importance of Dreaming Big. Murray’s upbringing in the Bronx, as the child of addicted parents, was filled with severe challenges. There was never enough food in the house, the apartment was dirty and drugs were everywhere. By age 16, Murray’s mom had died and she was homeless — sleeping in parks, riding the subway all night, and living as a high school dropout on the streets of New York City.

Suffering this pain, Murray always imagined her life could be much better than it was. “I knew I had to change my situations for the better, and that no one could do that for me. But, I quickly found that I also could not do it alone. I had to take responsibility first, and then I had to find help — a community of caring people to help me get there.” Determined to change her life, Murray finished high school in just two years, and with the help of devoted mentors (导师) and teachers, she was awarded a full scholarship (奖学金) by the New York Times to Harvard University — all while camping out in New York City parks and subway stations.

Her story sounds like a Hollywood movie — and it practically is. Lifetime Television produced a movie about Murray’s life story entitled Homeless to Harvard, which was nominated (提名) for three “Emmy Awards”. Murray received the White House “Project’s Role Model Award” and Oprah Winfrey’s first-ever “Chutzpah Award”. Her memoir (回忆录), Breaking Night, landed on the New York Times best-seller list after it came out and it quickly became an international best-seller published in twelve countries, in eight languages.