In the Autumn of Life
Chen Yuan Zhong
目前定居新西兰的陈远宗同学是我们53年届的佼佼者之一。他于1953年高中毕业那年回国，即考上清华。毕业后被分配到东北，并曾辗转各地。就如他在文中所说：他曾经在南方边陲参加三线建设、曾在冬季温度低达—50度C的中俄边境接受贫下中农的再教育、又曾作为中国的外交官在联合国于罗马的某一组织工作…。到香港后进入“英之杰” ，继而任该公司驻北京首席代表，成绩斐然。听说当时国内的《参考消息》曾经提到他，并为中国失去这样爱国、能干的人才表示惋惜。上世紀五、六十年代从东南亚，尤其是从印尼回国的千万华人，是一大批真正滿怀热忱准备献身祖国建设的青年，如果都有机会各尽所能，将可做出多大的貢献！这笔无形的损失，谁来评估？
下面请阅读陈远宗用英文写的短文。各位看官可体会到他对目前退休生活的珍惜和投入，以及对回忆往事的潇洒之中流露的无奈。
―――张茂荣
In the twinkling of an eye, I have become a member of the elderly. If I look back to my life, I have had a feeling that it somewhat resembles to a roller-coaster ride, I had my ups and I had also my downs. I remember still one overcast evening along a roaring river somewhere in the southernmost border of the country waiting to be picked-up ( I was one of the engineers honorably selected from the unit to work in the Third Line ), the sheer desolation of the place was profoundly depressing as if I had been delivered to the veritable end of the earth. Then I was tilling the soil together with a brigade team somewhere close to the border of Russia in the most northern tip of the country to be re-educated by the farmers where the temperature in the winter would drop to minus 50 degrees. Then I was working as a PRC official in one of UN organizations headquarters in Rome enjoying the life style of a Chinese diplomat Then in one evening at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Stockholm sitting alone in its luxurious dining hall sipping vintage Chardonnay while the violinist played his melodious tune in front of me apparently looking for a generous tip from the managing director of a multi-national corporation who was attending a world-wide seminar.
And now, after more than 40 years of career life, I am a retiree commencing a life style that I have never experienced before: Long distant swimming every morning seven days a week, reading a lot of books, learning Japanese ( such as Hajimemashite, ogenki deska? and French ( Excusez-moi, monsieur, qest-ce que vous dites? ), trying to improve my bakery skills through trial and error ( sometimes the end-products are awful !! ), pushing weights in the afternoon in the gym for an hour to maintain my bulging chest and wash-board abs and driving ( I love driving very much, that is one of the reasons why I would visit USA from time to time, coast to coast, occasionally 14 hours driving without feeling tired ). I have no more business appointments to attend, no deadlines to meet, no company overseas trips to make, but many hours at my disposal. In a sense, it is a disappointment of being a retiree who still admires people working instead of spending the time shooting the breeze.
编辑：张茂荣 陈芷芳
---- 二零零八年七月十五日----
