游逢其时

The Right Place at the Right Time People talk as if it is lucky to be in the right place at the right time. I don’t trust to luck. I put myself in the right place. I was in Ireland when President Clinton made his historic visit to Dublin. I was staying in a hostel in Killarney but as soon as I heard that he and Hillary were going to arrive in Dublin in a few days, I checked out of my hostel and hopped on a bus. I had to be there to see how the Irish would welcome my president. Every store and business was closed for the day. The city came to a complete stand-still. I was in front of where he would speak at nine in the morning for the two o’clock speech. But as the mobs kept coming and pushing, I found myself in a crush, unable to move. I wasn’t about to die in Dublin, so I wormed my way out through people 50 deep, shouting “Let me through, folks! An American coming through!” I saw Clinton’s cavalcade go by and then made a brilliant move-a ringside seat at Daniel O’Connell’s Pub where I watched the whole afternoon’s proceedings on TV while drinking a pint of Guinness. One-hundred thousand people wildly waved flags and cheered this down-to-earth man who spoke right to their needs. Clinton was made a Freeman of Dublin, sharing the honor with Ulysses S. Grant and John F. Kennedy. “The Eagle has Landed” proclaimed the headline of one newspaper. It was a great day to be an American! Again seeking out the right place, I went on a pilgrimage to England to bid farewell to Princess Diana after her death. I visited Kensington Palace where she had lived. There were fresh flowers at the gate, with more arriving every few minutes from people who still could not comprehend the great tragedy of her death. I went to St. Paul’s Cathedral where the fairytale wedding took place and to Westminster Abby where the world said farewell. Finally, I went to Althorp, Diana’s childhood home and last resting place. I drove slowly around the estate. I visited Great Brington, the neighboring town where all the Spencers are buried. Diana was to be buried there also, but the townspeople prevailed on her brother not to bury her there as the village was not equipped to handle the endless tour buses and tourists who would inevitably come. I went to the one pub in town, the Fox and Hounds, and raised my glass in a final farewell to Diana, Princess of Wales. I was in Hong Kong in 1997 for this city’s historic turnover to Mother China. Staying at a hostel in Kowloon, I was in the right place to witness this momentous event. Every skyscraper was covered with lights in the shape of Honk Kong’s official flower and were festooned with slogans like “Back to Mother China”. The longest dragon ever constructed--seven miles long and made entirely of lights--wended its way up Nathan Road. Prince Charles on the Royal Yacht, the Britannia, sailed into Hong Kong Harbor. Secretary of State, Madeline Albright, arrived as did Jiang Zemin, President of China, setting his foot in Hong Kong for the first time. A few days before the final turnover took place, the British held their last farewell at a huge sports stadium. I pleaded with the officer at the Prince of Wales barracks to please give me one, only one, ticket to this last band and drum concert. He couldn’t resist my pleas so I was able to join the thirty-thousand people crammed in the stadium in the rain, crying while the sang God Save the Queen. The British flag slowly came down and was presented to Governor Chris Patton, the last British Governor of Hong Kong. Off in the distance, a lone bagpiper played a mournful tune. An era was coming to a close. My most exciting witnessing of history, though, was when I was in Berlin when the Wall came down. I never thought I would see the Wall come down in my lifetime, even though President Reagan issued his order,“Mr. Gorbachev, take down this wall!” I was teaching school at the army base in Butzbach, Germany when I saw the headlines. The wall was down! This was an event I was not going to miss. I asked my principal for a personal day. With this day and the weekend, I had three days to be part of this historic event. I hopped a train on Thursday night in Butzbach and arrived seven hours later in West Berlin. The first day I took a bus tour which took me to the Potsdam Crossing where the Wall was open. I went up to the Wall with my trusty Swiss army knife and hacked myself off a big bag full of graffitied concrete. I met two brothers from Atlanta, Georgia who, when they saw the news of the Wall opening up, took the next plane out to be part of the celebration. They understood how easy it is to be at the right place at the right time! They kept calling to the guards,“Hey, amigo, say cheese!” Typically American. The guards were very uncomfortable with their new role. They couldn’t quite bring themselves to wave to anyone and only managed an anemic smile. It was wonderful to see the East Germans as they began to come back to life, but I had to ask, “Why were these people kept isolated all these years?” And that eternal question,“What is the point of man’s inhumanity to man?” 游逢其时 人们总是说，能占尽天时地利是幸运的。我不相信运气，我自己创造“地利”。 克林顿总统在对都柏林进行历史性的访问时，我就在爱尔兰。我当时在基拉尼镇的一家青年旅社，但一听说他和希拉里几天后将到达都柏林，我便退了房，跳上一辆公共汽车。我得去那里看看爱尔兰人是如何欢迎我们的总统的。 那天，所有的商店都闭门谢客，城市完全停顿下来。在我站立之处的前方，克林顿将于早上9点为下午2点举行的演讲发 表 关于同志近三年现实表现材料材料类招标技术评分表图表与交易pdf视力表打印pdf用图表说话 pdf 讲话。但是，由于民众不断涌来，互相推挤着，我发现自己被挤得无法动弹。我不要死在都柏林，于是一点点挤出重重人群，一边高喊“请大家让我过去！一个美国人要过去！”我看见克林顿的车队经过，然后做出一个明智之举---在丹尼尔 奥康奈尔酒吧里找一个有利的座位，一边喝健力士黑啤酒一边观看整个下午活动的电视转播。有10万人疯狂地挥动旗子，向这个发表讲话的务实男人欢呼，他说出了他们心底的需要。克林顿成为都柏林的荣誉市民，与尤里西斯 S 格兰特和约翰 F 肯尼迪分享荣誉。在一份报纸的大标题上，把此事称为“猛鹰雄风”。作为一个美国人，我觉得真棒！ 再次找到“地利”，是我踏上前往英国的朝圣之旅，去悼念谢世的戴安娜王妃。我参观了她生活过的肯辛顿宫，大门口摆放着鲜花，每隔几分钟就有人送来鲜花，他们仍然无法理解她的悲剧之死。我去了圣保罗大教堂，那个童话般的婚礼曾在此举行；还去了威斯敏斯特教堂，世人在那里向她告别。最后，我去了奥尔索普城堡，那是戴安娜童年时的家以及最终的安息地。我驱车缓缓绕着城堡行驶。我参观了附近的大布赖顿镇，斯宾塞家族所有的人都埋葬在此。戴安娜也将如此，不过镇民们力劝其弟不要把她葬在那里，因为必然会有无休无止的游览车和游客前来，村子没有能力应付。我去了镇上的一家酒吧“狐狸与猎犬”，举杯向威尔士王妃戴安娜做最后的告别。 1997年我在香港，看到它历史性地回归祖国中国。我住在九龙的一家青年旅社，刚好目睹了这一重大事件。每一座摩天大楼都装饰有许多紫荆花--香港的区花--形状的灯，以及用花彩装饰着像“回归祖国”那样的 标语 宣传标语下载抗洪救灾标语防溺水标语工程质量标语开学标语 。有史以来最长的人造龙--长达7英里，全是用灯做的--沿着弥敦道慢慢行进。查尔斯王子乘坐皇家游艇“大不列颠号”驶入香港维多利亚港。美国国务卿德琳 奥尔布赖特到达了香港，时任中国国家主席江泽民也第一次踏上香港的土地。 在香港回归的前几天，英国人在一座巨大的体育场举行最后告别。我请求威尔士亲王军营的官员送我一张票--就一张--去听这最后一场鼓号乐团音乐会。他无法拒绝我的请求，我得以加入3万名听众，与他们一道挤在雨中的体育场，在他们唱出《天佑女王》时，我哭了。英国国旗缓缓降落，被呈交给末任港督彭定康。远处，一位孤独的风笛手吹出悲哀的曲子。一个时代即将结束。 不过，我见证的最令人兴奋的时刻是在柏林目睹柏林墙被推倒。 我从未想到自己这一辈子会看见柏林墙倒塌，即使里要总统曾发出呼吁。“戈尔巴乔夫先生，把这堵墙推倒吧！”看见这个头条新闻时，我正在德国布茨巴赫的陆军基地教书。柏林墙倒了！ 我当然不会错过一重大事件。我向校长请了一天事假，加上周末，我有三天时间亲历这个历史性的事件。星期四晚上，我在布茨巴赫登上一趟列车，7小时后到达西柏林。 第一天，我坐游览车去了波茨坦过境通道，那儿的柏林墙是开放的。我带着耐用的瑞士军刀，用它砍削下了一大袋涂满彩画的墙体混凝土。 我遇见两个来自美国佐治亚州亚特兰大市的兄弟，他们看见柏林墙开放的消息后，即乘坐下一班飞机前来参加庆祝。他们懂得占尽天时地利多么容易！他们不断对守卫说：“嗨，朋友，笑一个！”典型的美国人。守卫们对于自己的新角色很不自在。他们不能随意向任何人挥手，只能勉强挤出一个微笑。 看见东德人开始恢复生机真的妙极了，但我还得问：“为什么这些人这么多年要彼此分离呢？”还有这个永恒的问题：“本是同根生，相煎何太急？”