The Suit I Wore Twice

Dear Dad and Mom, I received both of your letters a while ago, but I just haven't been able to find the time to write back. I'm really sorry. I've been busy with one thing after another, although sometimes I'm not even sure what I've been so busy with. I see that Mom has officially retired! I can hardly believe how quickly that happened. It's great news. Now you don't have to stress over teaching classes and grading papers anymore, and you can finally relax and enjoy yourself. Dad, you still have quite a few years to go before retirement, don't you? Many companies have been coming to campus to recruit. I've had quite a few interviews over the past month. I flew out to New York for one, though the rest of them have taken place right here in Austin. I actually went out and bought a suit specifically for second-round interviews. It cost around $320, and I've only worn it twice so far! Both of those companies ended up extending me job offers. One is from National Instruments here in Austin, a relatively small company with about a thousand employees that mostly makes PC hardware and software. They offered a base salary of $42,000 plus an annual bonus of eight to nine percent, bringing the total compensation to roughly $46,000 a year. The other offer is from Morgan Stanley, a large and prestigious Wall Street firm specializing in investment banking. My trip to New York was for their on-site interview. They offered a total compensation package of $62,500, consisting of a $50,000 base salary and a guaranteed minimum bonus of $12,500. It also comes with four weeks of paid vacation each year. While that number looks impressive on paper, the job is located on Broadway in Manhattan, where the cost of living is much higher, so the salary isn't quite as high as it seems. All in all, between the two, I'm leaning toward Morgan Stanley, mainly because the work sounds more interesting to me and because of the firm's strong reputation on Wall Street. It was actually my top choice going into this semester, so I'm thrilled that I landed the offer. In any case, things are looking up. I plan to keep looking next semester and see what opportunities might be available in California. I've heard California has many high-tech companies and nice weather, though the cost of living is very high there as well. Weihai found a job too! He's going to Microsoft in Seattle with a starting base salary of $47,000, which is quite good. He will graduate at the end of this year. Interestingly, several of my classmates from Beijing who came to UT for their Ph.D. programs have decided to drop out and look for jobs instead. Part of the reason is how hot the job market is right now, and part of it is that a Ph.D. simply takes up way too much time—at least four years in our department. Our winter break runs from mid-December to January 12th. I decided against going back to work at Bell Labs this winter. The break is too short, and I don't really want to spend the holidays working anyway. I'd rather just relax and recharge here in Austin. My roommate will be moving near Dallas soon, so I'll also be moving in mid-December and renting a room from my Taiwanese friend Yao-zhu. She's the one I told you about who bought a mobile home last year. Once I'm settled, I'll send you my new address and phone number. As for the car, I haven't really had much chance to practice driving because everyone's been busy, so it's been hard to coordinate a time for my friends to teach me. So far, I've only practiced three times. My first two driving lessons were with Yao-zhu, and Robin taught me once as well. I can handle the basics fine, but obviously, I still need a lot more practice. I'll keep working on it over winter break. I promise I'll be careful. I'm doing really well here in the United States. Even though I've been incredibly busy lately, I'm in good health. I've been here for over a year now and have only felt under the weather once. I still tend to stay up late and sleep in, but I always make sure to get plenty of sleep, probably more than most people around me. Wishing you both good health, Tong 11/28/96 P.S. Today is Thanksgiving, the American holiday when everyone eats turkey.