Today, there are plenty of chances to get to know people from other countries. Don’t just stare at your shoes, go and say “Hi”. These tips will h    22    you get through the embarrassing (尴尬的) moments:

British: “Beautiful day, isn’t it?” The w    23    in Britain changes often, so, it’s one of the topics the British talk a lot about. And there’s a strange r    24    about weather conversation: just say “Yes”, whether you agree with the person’s idea or not. That’s because the British wants to move on to something else i    25    of talking about the weather.

French: “Where did you go for your holiday?” To get c    26    to a French student, the safest way is to ask about his or her last holiday. French students e    27    a 10-to-15-day holiday every two months. And the French are famous for their conversations by d    28    a cup of coffee. Then, all you need to do is to keep your ears o    29    when the conversation starts.

American: “What do you like to do on the weekends?” Young American people like to use weekends to r    30    and have fun. They go to see movies, v    31    friends’ houses or go shopping, so “What did/will you do on the weekend?” is a good way to turn the conversation on and get to know more about your new friends.

Wang Lin, a Chinese student, and Mary, an American student studying Chinese in China, were in a supermarket. They saw a young man walking down the stairs. In his hurry, he missed the last two steps and fell onto the ground. He tried to stand up while people around him laughed. Luckily, he seemed to be OK.

Mary found Wang Lin smiling a little and was unhappy about it. “Tell me, Lin, how could people laugh when someone fell like that? Why didn’t they go to ask him if he was hurt?”

Wang Lin said, “Because they knew he wasn’t hurt too much.”

“But I still don’t understand. A fall is a fall. In my culture, people would never laugh!”

This is an example. The Chinese and the Westerners will think and act differently when seeing such a thing. Chinese people are used to laughing or smiling. Very often the person who is in an embarrassing situation will also laugh or smile to get out of it. However, if someone gets hurt seriously, it will not be a laughing matter any more. People will help him or her instead.

But in that case, a Westerner will rush over and help the person get up. If a Westerner falls, he or she, like a Chinese person, may try to make a joke if he or she is not hurt. If two close friends are walking together, and one falls but clearly isn’t hurt, a common joke is to say “Have a nice trip”.

So different people have different habits and different countries have different cultures.