By Yan Wenhua

I have asked many people the same question, “How do you spend your weekends?”Most commonly Chinese students answer, “Catch up on sleep,” or“Attend a language class,” or“Do homework.” They think of weekends as a time to rest or study, or both.

Asked the same question,French students’ answer is: “Have fun.” They really party down on weekends. They love going to bars. A Chinese student who went with them told me, “I won’t go out with them anymore, they bar hop like crazy. I felt it would obligated to go with them to each and every bar, but by the time we go to the third one, I couldn’t stay anymore, and retreated with my tail between my legs. See, it was already early morning, and I was dog tired. I would need the whole weekend to catch up on my sleep.”Unlike Chinese students, French students think that weekends are for fun.

When asked the same question,American students say, “To exercise.” They might exercise by themselves or participate in group sports games. Others answered, “It’s better to rest up on weekends.” Although work is always important, rest is essential. Work and personal life should be separated.

Time is an important cultural element. Although the seconds,minutes, and hours are the units used to calculate time the world over; at the cultural level, the utilization of time is different for each. The Chinese use of time is flexible; the exact length of time depends on individual circumstances. In some other cultural contexts, however, time is inelastic. Each culture defines time efficiency in a different way.An efficient practice in one culture may be regarded as in ineffective use of time in another.(FromThe Most Important Things in Life,Jiangsu Phoenix Literature and Art Publishing, Ltd. Translation:Huilan)

我問過很多人這個(gè)問題：“你的周末是拿來干什么的？”很多中國學(xué)生的回答是：“用來補(bǔ)覺啊?！薄坝脕砩险Z言班啊?！薄坝脕碲s作業(yè)啊?！毙菹⒑蛯W(xué)習(xí)是混在一起的，周末既用來休息，也是學(xué)習(xí)的好時(shí)機(jī)。

法國學(xué)生的回答是：“找樂子。”周末是拿來熬夜的。他們最喜歡去的是酒吧。一個(gè)曾被邀請同去的中國學(xué)生回來說：“我再也不和他們?nèi)チ?。去了第一個(gè)酒吧之后，他們居然還要去第二個(gè)。我勉為其難地去了，不好意思中途走掉，但當(dāng)他們還要去第三個(gè)時(shí)，我再也受不了，先撤了。都到凌晨啊?；貋砗笠粋€(gè)周末都用來補(bǔ)覺了，我覺得好累。”法國學(xué)生覺得，周末就是拿來玩的。

美國學(xué)生的回答是：“去運(yùn)動?！彼麄兓蚴亲鰝€(gè)人的運(yùn)動，或是大家一起去打球。周末就是用來休息的。工作是重要的，休息是神圣的，工作和休息截然分開。

時(shí)間是重要的文化元素。盡管秒、分鐘、小時(shí)是世界通行的計(jì)算時(shí)間的科學(xué)單位，但在文化層面，每一種文化用來計(jì)算時(shí)間的基本單位是不同的，中國時(shí)間是有彈性的，根據(jù)關(guān)系來決定時(shí)間的長短，而在有些文化背景中，時(shí)間是沒有彈性的。每一種文化界定效率的方式不同，在一種文化中被認(rèn)為是高效的做法，在另外一種文化中，可能被當(dāng)成不會有效地管理時(shí)間。（摘自