Do you always focus on studying and getting "A" grades in school? Most Chinese students work really hard. But in the United States, you might be considered a bookworm(书呆子) if you cannot socialize(社交). Socializing is as important as your grades. If you just study all the time and don't socialize, your life won't be complete. So, how does one socialize with students in the US?

Lots of high schools often have soccer games during the autumn term. I didn't know anything about soccer, but I joined some of the soccer games in order to have fun with my friends. I thought I could learn the rules from others. However, to my surprise, some American students don't even know the rules but still go to the games in order to socialize. They cheer for the soccer players and have fun together.

The other common way to socialize is to join after-school clubs. You can choose clubs that you are interested in and make a lot of new friends. For example, one of my friends started a sketch(素描) club. I was interested, so I joined the club. There I met lots of students who were also interested in sketching. We soon became friends with each other. Socializing is an important thing in the US. But grades are still important, too. A complete student should have the ability to balance his or her studying and socializing.

A Chinese knot is a knot that is woven (编) from a single rope to be different shapes. Each shape has its own meaning. Now you can see it as a decoration (装饰物) or a gift for friends. People can use different colours to weave a Chinese knot, but they usually choose red because it means good luck.

The Chinese knot has a long history. People might have first made them to record information and send messages before they started to use words. It is well-known that the knots were used for decoration and to express thoughts and feelings in the Tang dynasty. They were later popular in the Ming and Qing dynasties. But it was not until the Qing dynasty that this art became really accepted by most people.

Even today, Chinese knots are rich in different meanings, and they hold sentimental (情感的) value when gifted or passed down through families. For example, lovers may give a knot to show their love. The “double happiness knot” is given and used at weddings to express each other’s love and wishes for growing old together.

Many foreign tourists like to buy Chinese knots as gifts when they return home. Yiwu Commodity (商品) Market in Zhejiang province is one of the millions of places with all kinds of beautiful Chinese knots.

Libraries usually have a pretty strict “no talking” rule, but it’s the opposite in the Human (人类) Library. In fact, talking is what the Human Library is all about!

Ronni Abergel, a Danish reporter, started the first Human Library in Copenhagen in 2000. He wanted to create a safe space for people to discuss difficult themes.

There are now Human Libraries in more than 80 countries. Instead of books, the libraries’ resources (资源) are humans. When you walk into a Human Library, you can see a list of the day’s available “books”. These “books” are actually human volunteers who have “published (出版)” their stories and experiences. Once you choose one, you sit down with the “book” either alone or in a group and have a conversation.

“We look for volunteers that are homeless, have no jobs, have certain disabilities, etc, they can help educate us,” Ronni explained. “What could be a better resource to learn from than someone with a lived experience? Whether you’re young or old, rich or poor, no matter who you are, we can all meet up in the library and learn.”

Most people walk out of the Human Library with a new understanding of themselves and others. Ronni believes that listening to another human’s experiences can break us out of our “shells (壳)” and change our opinions.

Would you like to visit a Human Library and have a conversation with a special “book”?