After a busy morning at work, lunchtime gives me a chance to do many things, such as exercise, read or watch TV. One cultural difference I've noticed between Britain and China is what we do during lunchtime.

Here in China, workers have longer lunch breaks, which gives them enough time to take a short nap. So Chinese people usually use lunchtime to rest. I often see office workers rest their heads on their desks. The room turns into a quiet “bedroom”. Once, I even saw workers in a restaurant taking short naps as well. This is also very common for students in China. After lunch, they will go back to their dormitories (宿舍) or classrooms to take a nap. Chinese people believe a short nap at noon can help them feel more energetic in the afternoon.

In Britain, this activity is quite uncommon. British students usually have a one-hour lunch break. Instead of napping, they fill that time by playing sports or talking with friends.

Most workers in Britain don't get the chance to nap. They generally have short lunch breaks-between 30 minutes to an hour. There is not enough time to have a nap. Because of the shortness of their lunch breaks, it is common for people to work through lunch or just finish their lunch at their desk.

In Canada and the United States, people enjoy entertaining(请客)at home.They often invite friends over for a meal, a party, or just for a coffee and conversation.

Here are the kinds of things people say when they invite someone to their home：

“Would you like to come over for dinner Saturday night?”

“Hey, we're having a party on Friday. Can you come?”

To reply to an invitation, either say thank you and accept, or say you're sorry, and give an excuse：

“Thanks, I'd love to. What time would you like me to come?” or “Oh, sorry, I've tickets for a movie.”

Sometimes, however, people use expressions that sound like invitations but which are not real invitations.For example：

“Please come over for a drink sometime.”

“Why not get together for a party sometime?”

“Why don't you come over and see us sometime soon?”

They are really just polite ways of ending a conversation.They are not real invitations because they don't mention a specific(确定的)time or date.They just show that the person is trying to be friendly.To reply to expressions like these, people just say “Sure, that would be great!” or “OK, yes, thanks.”

So next time when you hear what sounds like an invitation, listen carefully: Is it a real invitation or is the person just being friendly?

“Your hair looks nice today.”

This is an example of a compliment. It feels nice when someone notices and praises you for something. But are there cultural differences in making compliments?

Sometimes I receive compliments for things that I don’t think it is worth. For example, when a taxi driver says “Wow, your Chinese is so good!” even though the only thing I said to him was “Hello, please take me to the airport.” It feels insincere to receive a compliment like this for saying just one simple sentence. However, I know he’s just trying to be polite.

It also seems like Chinese people are a bit more humble（谦虚的） than others when they receive a compliment. They often think little of the compliments they receive. I enjoy this quality, as people like this are more honest. I’ve noticed that older people are quite humble.

When and where should you give compliments? I try my best to compliment people in the service industry. People sometimes complain about the bad service in restaurants, stores and other places. But if I get good service, I’d love to compliment whoever served me, such as by saying “the food was delicious” or something like that. This will encourage them to continue to provide good service to others.