【推荐2】Since 1904, Ravinia Festival has been Chicago’s “sound of summer”, a place where you can meet up with your friends, have a wonderful time and hear some of the greatest music in the world. We’ve got stars on the stage and stars in the sky, and it’s all within your reach.But there’s more to Ravinia than merely the world’s greatest music. For as many people who walk through Ravinia’s gate each summer, there are just as many ways to enjoy what we call “The Ravinia Experience”. For some, it all starts with a picnic picked up along the way, greeting your friends at your favourite spot on the lawn.

RaviniaDining

Whether you want to add a bottle of wine and some cheese to your picnic on the lawn or sit down to a meal, Ravinia has a wide variety of choices and we welcome you to explore them all.

RaviniaGifts

There are two locations for your shopping convenience! Visit our Main Store in the Dining Pavilion. There you will find different CDs, jewelry, games and more. Or fill your more immediate needs at the shop located behind the Martin Theatre.

HowtoBuyTickets

Online

Tickets for the season begin to go on sale online on Tuesday April 25.Ravinia Festival’s online ticketing makes ordering tickets for your favourite performances easier than ever before. It is available 24 hours a day on the website.

Click on the date of your choice to select an event, select your seats and add it to your ticket order. Once you have selected all the events you wish to attend, simply enter your payment information and submit your order.

ByPhone

Phone sales for the season start on Monday May 22.

Order tickets by phone by calling 847-266-5100.

Monday—Friday:10:00 am—5:00 pm

Saturday/Sunday: Closed

【推荐3】Last - Minute Father’s Day gift ideas

Okay, it’s officially last minute for deciding and choosing Father’s Day gifts. Here are some last-minute ideas.

Sunday will be here before we know it. Don’t put it off another day!

【推荐1】An American friend has invited you to visit his family. You’ve never been to an American’s home before，and you’re not sure what to do. Should you take a gift? How should you dress? What time should you arrive?    1    When you’re the guest, you should just make yourself at home.

    2     Giving your host a gift is not just a social nicety in some cultures-it’s expected. But in American culture, a guest is not obligated to bring a present. Of course, some people do bring a small token of appreciation to their host. Appropriate gifts for general occasions might be flowers, candy or-if the family has small children-toys. If you choose not to bring a gift,    3    

American hospitality begins at home-especially when it involves food. Most Americans agree that good home cooking beats restaurant food any day. When invited for a meal, you might ask, “Can I bring anything?” Unless it’s a potluck, where everyone brings a dish, the host will probably respond, “No, just yourself.” For most informal dinners, you should wear comfortable, casual clothes. Plan to arrive on time, or else call to inform your hosts of the delay. During the dinner conversation, it’s customary to compliment the hostess on the wonderful meal.    4    

When you’ve had plenty, you might offer to clear the table or wash the dishes. But since you’re the guest, your hosts may not let you. Instead, they may invite everyone to move to the living room for dessert with tea or coffee.         5    

【推荐2】Ancient Chinese folk painting and many other art styles have been passed down from generation to generation, and are still practiced in different parts of China. Here’s a look at four unique Chinese folk art forms.

Chinese Opera is the traditional form of Chinese drama. According to incomplete statistics, in China’s various ethnic regions there are about more than 360 kinds of operas. The most famous ones include Peking Opera, Kunqu Opera, Yueju Opera, Yuju Opera, Sichuan Opera, Fujian Opera, Hebei opera, Huangmei Opera and so on, in total more than 50, among which Peking Opera is the most popular in China.

Shadow Play dates back to Western Han Dynasty in Shaanxi more than 1000 years ago. The moving figures, usually carved out from leather, are operated by folk artists, accompanied by music and singing. It is the world’s first dubbed (配音的) motion picture art form, thus considered the “ancestor” of modern film. Today this art form is still popular in northern China.

Paper-cutting is one of the most popular traditional decorative arts in China with a long history. Paper-cutting can be seen across China and it has even developed into different local genres (流派). They are usually used to decorate gates and windows during festivals.

The Kite was invented by Chinese people. According to legend the earliest kite in China was a wooden bird by Mo Di in the Eastern Zhou dynasty. Later his student Lu Ban improved the tech and used bamboo as material to make a kite. Today, various kite-flying activities can be found in different regions of China. Shandong Weifang Kite Festival is held every year and attracts lots of kite lovers and travelers.

【推荐3】Have you ever been asked by your Chinese friend, “What is your zodiac sign?” If you say “I’m a Pig.” they immediately know you are either 24, 36, 48 or 60 years old. Askiing a zodiac sign is a polite way of asking your age. By showing your zodiac sign, you are also being evaluated. Maybe you don’t believe in the Chinese zodiac. However, as a quarter of the world population is fluenced by it, you’d be wise to do something about that.

Zodiac sign is a 12-year cycle marked with animals, starting with a Rat and ending with a Pig. For example, if you were born in 2000, you are a Dragon. If you were born in 2001, you are a Snake. If you were born in 2002, you are a Horse.

Over thousands of years, zodiac sign has affected the Chinese’s major decisions, some of which are quite amazing. In romantic relations, a Pig girl may believe in a perfect romance with Tigers, Goats and Rabbits. while Snakes supposed to be their natural enemies. Chinese. parents also try to avoid having babies with certain zodiac signs. That’s why January, 2015, the last month for the Year of the Horse saw a common choice of cesarean section (剖腹产) ahead of the expected date of childbirth. It’ s not because they like Horses so much, but because babies born next month were Goats, which are a zodiac sign not favored by Chinese parents. Tiger is another undesirable animal, due to its agressiveness. Many Chinese regions saw a sharp decline of birthrate during those years.

Although the belief and tradition of the zodiac sign have been over thousands of years, the trend of using it in making major decisions did not really exist until the past few decades. As China plays such an important role in the global economy and geopolitics, the decisions made based on the zodiac and other Chinese traditions end up influencing more people around the world.

【推荐2】When John was growing up, other kids felt sorry for him. His parents always had him weeding the garden, carrying out the garbage and delivering newspapers. But when John reached adulthood, he was better off than his childhood playmates. He had more job satisfaction, a better marriage and was healthier. Most of all, he was happier.

These are the findings of a 40-year study that followed the lives of 456 teenage boys from Boston. The study showed that those who had worked as boys enjoyed happier and more productive lives than those who had not. "Boys who worked in the home or community gained competence (能力) and came to feel they were worthwhile members of society," said George Vaillant, the psychologist (心理学家) who made the discovery. "And because they felt good about themselves, others felt good about them."

Vaillant’s study followed these males in great detail. Interviews were repeated at ages 25,31 and 47. Under Vaillant, the researchers compared the men’s mental-health scores with their boyhood-activity scores. Points were awarded for part-time jobs, housework, effort in school, and ability to deal with problems.

The relationship between what the men had done as boys and how they turned out as adults was surprisingly sharp. Those who had done the most boyhood activities were twice as likely to have warm relations with a wide variety of people, five times as likely to be well paid and 16 times less likely to have been unemployed. The researchers also found that IQ and family social and economic class made no real difference in how the boys turned out. Working — at any age — is important. Childhood activities help a child develop responsibility, independence, confidence and competence — the underpinnings (基础) of emotional health. They also help him understand that people must cooperate and work toward common goals. The most competent (能干的) adults are those who know how to do this. Yet work isn't everything. As Tolstoy once said, “One can live magnificently in this world if one knows how to work and how to love to work for the person one loves and to love one's work.”

【推荐1】While Charlotte Uhlenbroek loves the adventure, she is also glad to be back in civilization, at least for the moment.

She's just finished filming a TV series called jungle-a 19-week job that involved her exploring the dense jungles of the Congo, the Amazon and Borneo. She says that it was fascinating, but daunting as well. So what was her most challenging experience? “Definitely climbing an 80-metre-high tree in Borneo, when I'm scared of heights! I had to keep going up and up, when a voice inside me was saying, ‘Down! Down!’ I kept thinking the ropes were going to break and send me down below.”

And “down below” was where the bugs were — clinging, stinging, sucking beasts. Apart from the usual mosquitoes, in the Amazon rainforest she was troubled by sand-fly bites. “I've had some horrible bites but these really are the itchiest bites I've ever had. At one stage, I counted 70 bites on one arm,” she says. “Just as annoying were the sweat bees in the Congo. They try to drink the sweat on your face and even the tears from your eyes. The most disgusting thing, though, was try to pull the leeches off your skin. The more I pulled, the more they stretched and the tighter their jaws clung to my leg. I kept shouting, ‘Get them off!’ and the film crew kept saying, ‘Just one minute...this makes a really good shot!’”

Back in London, what has she been enjoying since her return to “civilization”? “I've been having lots of nice, long showers,” she says. “In the Congo, the possibility of using up our water supplies was always a worrying thought. And I find that when I've been in hot, uncomfortable conditions for a while, the things I look forward to more than anything else are being with my family and enjoying my favourite meal.”

【推荐3】The BBC has made its second annual report known since its new charter was established and the broadcaster paints a rather bleak（暗淡的）picture for itself. It highlights the fact that the media landscape（局面）has changed quite rapidly in recent years and will most certainly continue to do so, and it says that the industry is “more and more dominated by a small number of US-based media giants with extraordinary creative and financial firepower.”The BBC added, “Their business models and huge budgets mean we are increasingly being squeezed out of an ever more competitive environment. British creativity and British content are now under real threat.”

However, the broadcaster is determined to do all it can to survive in the ever more digital TV world increasingly controlled by companies like Netflix and Amazon. In that regard, it laid out a few goals for the year that are aimed at keeping the BBC competitive. One focus will be its iPlayer platform. It notes that younger audiences are more frequently choosing Netflix over the BBC and it’s, therefore ,making some changes to iPlayer that will hopefully make it a destination itself rather than just a way to catch up on shows viewers have missed. The BBC has already started to introduce personalization into its iPlayer content and going forward, it will work to strengthen the user experience, boost（促进）personalization and add more live content.

But most importantly, the issue comes down to money. “The cost of sports broadcasting rights has skyrocketed while, overall, the cost of ideas and talent has risen fast.”Te broadcaster concludes that is has shrunk while the market has continued grow.“In this context, the BBC’s urgent challenge is to develop new ways to grow our income so that we can keep pace with the market around us, as well as successfully safeguard British content and Britain’s creative track record.”it said.