| OCR Text |
Show family. My, I did wish you could have had that New Year's feast with us. I told him that I was going to write of it to you so that you could enjoy it too. He showed me a nice picture of hi3 mother which he had framed and on the wall and gave me'a picture of his oldest boy, who is jat.jTeh.sien*. Don Fessler says Jhe is a most reli-gious boy, putting most óf the rest of us toshamé. (Don is the only other foreigner now in Tehsien besides the Tuckers.) We sat down to a round table on stools. Mrs. Shih sat by her husband, for which we were so glad. They sat with their backs to the door and Mr. Gilbert and I being the chief guests sat opposite» There were 22 courses of most lovely Chinese foód. Each dish was brought on in a bowl and set in the center. We all ate from it with chopsticks. We were 11 in all and the table was therefore large# Henee it was a long distance from the bowl to one*s mouth. By the time I had heId chopsticks together for all those courses my fingers achedl I can*t begin to mention all the things, but every dish was a museum. Such things ás duckj chicken, eggs and cabbage I could guess, but there were scores I knew not. Each one of us had a little dish in front of us throughout the mea!, which we used as a half way point, much needed in my case. We had to hurry away to the girls1 school assembly room where, a large number had been waiting an hour to greet us. There were three Chinese speeches - of cordial invitatlon to Mr. Gilbert to come to Lintsing. We- both had to answer. We watched the oíd year out at the Robinsons. Certainly a New Year*s Eve never to be for-gotten and a fit substituto for Asilomar. January 1 in the A.M. we hiked to the Pagoda. It was just as you left it (and many before you) save that a fire had burned out some of the timbers inside so that we thought it unsafe to climb above the fourth story--at that having to go around the le.dge out-side if one was to get to the next stairway. New Year*s dinner was at the Wickes! house. Then back to Tehsien. Everyone sends their warmest greetings to you all and especially to father, mother, Hubert, Bessie and Clarence. |
