Dear Dad and Mom,
This morning, Jim drove me to Wei Jin's place for lunch and we didn't end up leaving until around 4:00 in the afternoon. They live in a really nice townhouse in Edison, New Jersey. Their eleven-year-old son is chubby and really cute. His parents speak to him in Chinese, but he replies only in English. It's pretty funny listening to them switch back and forth between the two languages.
Uncle Wei and his wife seem to be in great spirits, though I don't think they've completely gotten over their jet lag yet. I received the watch you sent with them. I really love it, though the band is a little loose, so I'll need to get it shortened. I also asked Uncle Wei to bring back some American coins for you, along with a few Canadian ones.
1 They will probably stay at Wei Jin’s place for over six months before heading back to China, health permitting.
I've been at my job for a little over three weeks now. I get up at 8:00 in the morning to head into work with Jim, usually grab lunch at the office, and get back home in the evening. It's an eight-hour workday, but nobody really micromanages. The atmosphere in the office is much more relaxed than at a typical company—honestly, it feels more like being at a university. My coworkers are incredibly nice, and the workload is reasonable, so I'm confident I can handle the responsibilities. Working during the day also means my evenings are free now, which is a nice change from my student days, when I always had to read and do homework at night.
While I'm in New Jersey, I'm staying in Jim's living room. It's quite large but almost empty, with only a big-screen TV and a sofa. The sofa doubles as my bed. We take turns cooking dinner at home almost every night. On weekends, I try to get out and explore. I met up with Weihai, and together we took a day trip to Philadelphia and spent two days in New York. We hit a lot of sights and took quite a few photos. Last weekend, Jim and I drove to Atlantic City to try our luck at the casinos for the first time.
2 Jim drives a new Toyota Camry, and it still has that new-car smell. Atlantic City is a beautiful resort town on the southern New Jersey coast, only about an hour and a half from where we live. It's famous for its flashy casinos and the Boardwalk. After a few nervous hours, I ended up winning exactly one dollar. I came very close to losing money, but it was fun to experience the gambler's mentality firsthand, and we had a blast.
All in all, I'm really happy with how work and life are going this summer.
As for Chun, she emailed me a while back to say that Maryland had offered her a scholarship, although UT was still her first choice. She asked if I could check on the status of her application. I went to the department to ask about it, and they told me they still hadn't received her file from the International Office because of a processing backlog. They probably weren't even supposed to share that information with me, since applications are considered private.
Then, about three weeks ago, I received a letter from her, the first one since February. She sounded happy about receiving the scholarship, and said her parents were thrilled, too. She asked about the next steps for the paperwork, and I've already written back to congratulate her. She’ll be attending the University of Maryland, right outside Washington, D.C.
Honestly, I don't think things are going to work out between the two of us, so please don't get your hopes up.
Wishing you the best,
Tong
06/09/96
P.S. I pulled off straight A's in my three classes again this semester.