Well Skip,

If you remember me telling you about the atabrine tablets, I was pretty well saturated, having to take them for so long. My leave in Sydney after meeting my future wife on a double date at the pictures, led me to to being invited to tea the following evening, with the intent of me being introduced to her Mother and Brother. I was staying at a hotel in Sydney, eating every meal they served up. I took a baths, I shaved, and worked on my table manners as best I could, also kept my language and tone in check, after all we had been living and behaving in
a way the week before that most civilized Aussies might think us Yanks to be animals.

I thought tea was going to be tea, like a ladies social club affair, so I ate dinner, had my shoes shinned, put on my new uniform and went to tea. Well, Valerie had given quite a build up about the American Army officer she had met, so when the cab dropped me off at her Mother's house, the front door opened and the sitting room was full, they had food and pastries of all kinds, all the ladies were bringing me special treats they had made, and asked if I had ever been to Hollywood, or met Clark Gable. Valerie's mother asked me about my family, then asked if my mother was Chinese. She had never seen the affects of atabrine and tropical suntan.

Hands are numb, all for now.
Take care

__________________
All the Best
Jack