Dear Dad and Mom,
Right now, I’m still crashing temporarily at someone else’s apartment. I’ll be moving into my own place in a day or two, and then you’ll finally be able to write to me there. I’ve been in Austin for over ten days now, but because of my living situation, I haven’t started cooking proper meals yet. Mostly, I just eat things like bread, eggs, and pizza, or make some instant noodles with vegetables. Sometimes I just grab a hamburger for lunch on campus. The burgers are usually $1 each, but drinks are pricey, so a fast-food meal ends up costing around $3. For me, that’s a pretty expensive lunch. Buying groceries from the supermarket and cooking for yourself is much cheaper. The new apartment is completely unfurnished; I have to buy everything myself. I haven’t bought any of the essentials yet, like a bed, table, chair, or phone.
I’m taking 3 classes this semester, and they are all in the afternoon. On top of that, I’ll be working as a TA (Teaching Assistant), so I expect this semester will be quite busy. To clear the requirements to actually interact with students as a TA, I had to take an oral English exam, and I just barely managed to pass. Hai took the oral exam last year and failed; he retook it this year and got a conditional pass, meaning he has to take an English course this semester. The department has already assigned me to a class, and tomorrow I’m going to apply for an office space. These past few days have been relatively busy, mostly because I had to attend the International TA Orientation. It ran for 4 consecutive days and just wrapped up yesterday; it was basically a training on how to be a good international TA. School starts on August 30th.
I sent an email to Yiqun the day before yesterday, and tomorrow I’ll check to see if she’s replied.
Tong
08/27/95
❧❧❧
Yesterday I moved into the new apartment. The address is:
TONG WANG
5106 N. LAMAR #257
Austin, TX 78751
U.S.A.
You can use this address to write to me from now on. I’m not thrilled with the place; the air conditioner is very loud. My share of the rent is $250 a month. It’s a two-bedroom apartment, and another Chinese guy is living in the other room. Around here, it's pretty much standard for Chinese students to room together. My monthly TA stipend is $1,067, which doesn't include health insurance, and I also have to pay my tuition and fees. Tuition and fees for the fall semester came out to $1,457.97.
Yiqun didn't reply to my email. I'm not sure if she didn't get it or if she just has no way to write back to me. I need to write her a proper letter today.
School starts tomorrow. I hope life settles down a bit once things get moving. I’ll wrap things up here.
Tong
08/29/95
P.S. Yesterday I spent $15 to buy a large table from a neighbor. It’s in pretty good shape, but since I don’t have a chair yet, I’m actually standing up to write this letter to you. At night, I just spread a bedsheet out on the carpet to sleep.
There is no such thing as a midday nap break here; I have one class that runs right from 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM.
I’ll go deposit the money in the bank in a couple of days, so please don't worry.
Among the international students, the Indians make up the largest group, followed by students from Taiwan, South Korea, and Mainland China.