Nowadays, people often go to another country to study or to work. Many find it difficult to adapt (适应), though. According to the study, up to 70% of adults experience homesickness (想家的) at some point in their daily life.

Almost anything can cause homesickness — a smell, a taste, even a color can make them think of home. Mohammed Barakat sent us a message on Facebook about his longing (渴望) for “the smell of rain and green” during the Sudanese (苏丹的) rainy season, Mari Damian misses “the smell of Christmas cakes”. “I feel a little sad today because I’m homesick. I miss the delicious plates of spaghetti with a special sauce my mother used to make. She is a great cook. But I work in another country and I have to deal with occasional (偶尔的) feeling,” said a young man.

According to Dr. Susan Matt, who wrote a book about the subject, people used to see it as a dangerous disease. The Greek poem Homer’s Odyssey talked about it. But the modern term (术语) came into being in the 17th century to describe the feelings of soldiers, who missed their home while fighting in another country.

Modern technology (技术) can limit this feeling, letting people keep in touch with loved ones easily. Skype is a lifeline because it can let grandparents far away watch their grandchildren grow up. People should not let homesickness stop them living in the present. I follow advice given by Dr. Wood: I write down three new things that I am thankful for every night, as well as three things I'm looking forward to most every morning.

What about you? Have you experienced homesickness? What do you miss when you are away from your home and family?

Many of us have this experience: a piece of music keeps playing in our heads when we are awake. It turns out this can happen during sleep as well. And it can cause problems in getting to sleep and staying asleep.

“Our brains continue to process (处理) music even when none is playing, including while we are asleep,” said the neuroscientist (神经系统科学家) Michael Scullin. His research team interviewed 199 people and made a sleep test on 50 volunteers. They wanted to find out how listening to music, especially listening to earworms, before bedtime influenced our sleep.

In the survey, people who listened to music during the day were more likely to report nighttime earworms. That then had a bad influence on their sleep quality through the night.

For the lab test, volunteers were played several earworms and then their sleep quality was tested. Earworms were reported throughout the night. They needed longer time to fall asleep and woke up more times during the night.

“We thought that people would have earworms at bedtime when they were trying to fall asleep, but we certainly didn’t know people would repeatedly wake up from sleep with an earworm,” says Michael. “But we saw that in both the interview and the test.”

People used to believe that listening to music could help them have a better sleep, because it can relax the body. But Michael and his team suggested that it might be worse for our sleep—that even after the music stops, our brains continue to process it for several hours.

Michael suggested avoiding listening to music right before bed to limit the chance of a song taking hold in our minds. “Doing some other activities, like making a list of jobs for the next day, might help clear the mind,” Michael said.

Chuanjiang Chants(川江号子) is a form of folk singing performed by Chuanjiang boatmen in order to unify their movements and rhythms(节奏). Chongqing and eastern Sichuan are the main birthplaces of the Chuanjiang Chants.

In the age of wooden boat shipping for thousands of years, the power(动力) of wooden boats on the river came from the body of the boatmen. Whenever they headed up against the river or when the boat crossed a shoal, the boatmen had to pull together. Moreover, the long journey was boring and boatmen needed something to relax, and the Chuanjiang Chants came into being.

Chuanjiang Chants are both technical and artistic. Boatmen control the direction of the boat just like a driver is responsible for that of a car. And chants are like the accelerator(油门) of a car, controlling the speed of the boat. Therefore, the chats can adjust(调整) the force of the boatmen through its rhythm, so that the ship can move forward smoothly. At the same time, the chants are always sung in a bright voice, a good tone, and a beautiful sound. Therefore, it is also an art.

However, with the development and popularity of modern ships, Chuanjiang Chants are likely to be forgotten by people, facing an endangered situation. Our county paid great attention to the protection of it and it was included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage(非物质文化遗产) list. Hope that more and more people can get the chance to know the wonderful culture.