Last night,when I was attending Serge's class,my doorbell rang.I asked:'who is it'?Someone answered:' your neighbor'.I opened the door.Uh,there was a middle-aged guy standing outside my door,keeping a distance at about two meters away.I have never seen him before.He said he is my new neighbor,moved here not too long.I have been out of town for a while,during this period,they,his family-the couple and their two kids,moved in. 'what's the matter?'I asked.He said he was sorry to bother me,the reason was...guess what?That he and his wife thought I was an English teacher and they wanted me to teach his kids English!He said they often heard me practicing English,and they talked to each other:she speaks English so well,it would be perfect if she could be the teacher of our kids.Oh my God,can you imagine it?can you imagine my impression?What I want to say is his words really blew my mind.Only this?NO,the key point is as below:he has Doctor degree,and his wife has passed CET-6,but he said they couldn't teach their kids English.He also said he works in the oil industry.Most of his time,he is abroad and he uses English at work,now he is on vacation.I asked him why they couldn't teach their children themselves,he said their English doesn't sound good.Then I asked him to say something to me.Uh,honestly say,his PIRF is really not that beautiful. But given my understanding of my own English level,I turned him down,I can't hold their children back.Anyway,this is a pleasant thing!

In 1701, in Moscow, the first secular state educational institution was opened in the Sukharev Tower. It was the School of Mathematical and Navigational Sciences. Before that, most education had a religious focus but this school shifted the emphasis to practical and technical subjects. The country urgently needed skilled professionals: sailors, engineers, and artillerymen. Tsar Peter I realized that training such specialists abroad was too expensive, so he decided to establish a domestic training system. The teachers were both foreigners and Russians. Students at the school included children of nobles, clerks, deacons, soldiers, and ordinary townspeople; children of serfs were not allowed to study there. First, students learned basic skills (literacy and arithmetic), then moved on to more advanced subjects: geometry, geography, navigation, artillery, engineering, and so on. Upper--level students completed mandatory practical training. BTW, the tower building was chosen for the school because the teachers needed a good view of the sky and the horizon to study astronomy and navigation. The building hasn’t survived to the present day; it was demolished in the mid 1930s due to the widening of Moscow’s streets. In 1801, Emperor Paul I of Russia was murdered in his own bedroom at the Mikhaylovsky Castle in St. Petersburg. A group of assailants, mostly dissatisfied officers, broke into his chambers. They didn’t like Paul’s unpredictable way of governing and the strict discipline that was characteristic of him. They forced the emperor to abdicate, and when he refused, violence broke out. Paul I died that night, and the throne passed to his son, Alexander I. The official announcement to the public claimed that the emperor had died of a stroke, but everyone knew the truth. In 1901, the body of main leaders of Russian Orthodox Church --- Holy Synod claimed that a renown Russian writer Leo Tolstoy was no longer part of the Orthodox Church. They didn’t say he was cursed — they said Tolstoy himself had chosen to leave because of his beliefs, and they just made it public.

On the third day, our first stop was Namsan Mountain in Seoul. We set off at 8:30 AM by charter bus and transferred to a public bus to reach the top of the mountain. The weather was lovely👌—cooler and much more comfortable than yesterday’s scorching heat. From the mountain, we had a view of almost the entire Seoul cityscape. I didn't go up the Namsan Seoul Tower, but if you do, you can get a full panoramic view of the whole city. Plenty of young people and middle-aged women were exercising on the mountain, and the air was very fresh. There were many tourists, and we took photos all over the place. What’s particularly worth mentioning is a long stretch of railings completely covered with love locks, inscribed with endless love stories and wishes. I really wanted to strike up a conversation with some locals, but I don't speak Korean and didn't have the courage to approach them. I wasn't sure if they would be open to chatting with a visitor from China like me. My spoken English isn't very fluent either—I can handle basic phrases, but I run out of words when trying to have a deeper conversation. After about an hour or so, we headed down the mountain and passed by a statue of the historical figure featured on the 1,000-won banknote. We snapped a photo and then took a bus to the Hanok Village. There, we explored ancient architecture—these were homes where ancient Korean nobles used to live, showcasing their unique ethnic heritage. Looking at the historic houses and imagining life back then made me appreciate how wonderful modern civilization truly is, whereas life in ancient times was quite tough and simple. Korea lacks underground natural resources, so its economy couldn't rely on raw materials; instead, it had to depend on advancements in science and technology. Despite starting from a underdeveloped position with scarce resources, the Korean people worked hard to learn new technologies and sciences from developed Western capitalist nations. Through years of practical effort and growth, Korea developed into a major advanced economy in Asia, accompanied by a rising level of social civic awareness.