America is a mobile society. Friendships between Americans can be close and real, yet disappear soon if situations change. Neither side feels hurt by this. Both may exchange Christmas greetings for a year or two, perhaps a few letters for a while—then no more. If the same two people meet again by chance, even years later, they pick up the friendship. This can be quite difficult for us Chinese to understand, because friendships between us flower more slowly but then may become lifelong feelings, extending(延伸) sometimes deeply into both families.

Americans are ready to receive us foreigners at their homes, share their holidays, and their home life. They will enjoy welcoming us and be pleased if we accept their hospitality (好客) easily.

Another difficult point for us Chinese to understand Americans is that although they include us warmly in their personal everyday lives, they don’t show their politeness to us if it requires a great deal of time. This is usually the opposite of the practice in our country where we may be generous with our time. Sometimes, we, as hosts, will appear at airports even in the middle of the night to meet a friend. We may takes days off to act as guides to our foreign friends. The Americans, however, express their welcome usually at homes, but truly can not manage the time to do a great deal with a victor outside their daily routine. They will expect us to get ourselves from the airport to our own hotel by bus. And they expect that we will phone them from there. Once we arrive at their homes, the welcome will be full, warm and real. We will find ourselves treated hospitably.

For the Americans, it is often considered more friendly to invite a friend to their homes than to go to restaurants, except for purely business matters. So accept their hospitality at home!

Cold weather has a great effect on how our minds and our bodies work. Maybe that is why there are so many expressions that use the word “cold”.

For example, people who show no human emotions or feelings are said to be cold-blooded. Cold can affect other parts of the body. But the expression “get cold feet” has nothing to do with cold or your feet. The expression means being afraid to do something you have decided to do. For example, you agree to be CEO of a company. But then you learn that all the other officers have resigned (辞职), and all the work of the company will be your responsibility (责任). You are likely to get cold feet about being CEO when you understand the situation.

The expression “give someone the cold shoulder” probably comes from the physical act of turning your back toward someone, instead of speaking to him face to face. You may give the cold shoulder to a friend who has not kept a promise he made to you, or to someone who has lied about you to others.

“A cold fish” is not a fish. It is a person. But it is a person who is unemotional and shows no love or warmth. A cold fish does not offer much of himself to anyone. Someone who is a cold fish could be cold-hearted. He or she will never feel sorry for those in bad situation.

“Out in the cold” means not getting something that everybody else got. A person might say that everybody but him got a pay raise — he was left out in the cold. And it is not a pleasant place to be.

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