“欲速则不达，见小利则大事不成。” This line is from a Chinese ancient classic, which means: more haste, less speed; with one's eyes fixed on petty profits, one can hardly succeed in great venture.

Most simply and traditionally, people eat Longevity Noodles on birthdays here in China. Although it is called Longevity Noodles, it is a bowl of ordinary noodles with light soup, and we usually poach an egg in it as well. This bowl of long noodles expresses people's good wishes for longevity. Besides, in many more traditional families, the birthdays of the elder and children (usually aged ≥ 60 or ≤ 10) are important dates for a family reunion. Relatives get together at the birthday person's home or a restaurant to have a lively and joyful dinner party together. Young people usually hang out and party with friends on birthdays, which is common with the celebration of youngsters in many other countries. However, the difference is that the birthday person requires to pay the bills in our customs. I've once heard that in some countries such as Japan, attendants except the birthday person share the expense equally, right? Moreover, more and more youngsters would like to celebrate their birthday in innovative and meaningful ways. As far as I know, birthday activities such as doing volunteer works, making donations to charities, donating blood, traveling alone, etc., are in a fashion.

请问，在台湾，大学生日常工作学习中怎么口头称呼大学教授呢？ 带我做研究的导师是台湾人，之前我们用英语沟通，直接称呼professor就好；但今天突然变成中文沟通了，请问我按我们这边大学里的习惯称呼他“老师”礼貌吗？ 谢谢！

In my opinion, it is partially predetermined. The structures of different individuals' brains are different, determined by genes to a great extent. However, our brain is pretty malleable, according to a friend of mine who is doing psychological research. For example, the amygdala is a part of our brain producing primitive desires and impulses, while the frontal lobe is another part that gives people the ability to be rational and thoughtful. In a word, the frontal lobe and the amygdala inhibit each other. The more powerful the frontal lobe one has, the better self-control this person would have. It is worth noting that the self-control ability provided by our frontal lobe includes emotion regulation, long-term planning, rational decision-making, etc., which all pertain to personalities in my view. The key is that although the frontal lobe function hinges on greatly, it is also changeable based on how we use our brain. Keeping specific practices such as meditation, mindfulness, and yoga can help shape a developed frontal lobe, which is equivalent to changing one's personality. Thus, personalities are not entirely predetermined. (It seems I'm practicing academic writing, lol.)