Goodbye Austin

Dear Dad and Mom, Time really flies—I'm leaving Austin before I know it. I've already coordinated with the moving company, and they are coming this Monday to pack everything up and ship it to New Jersey. Honestly, I don't even own any real furniture—it's mostly just a TV, a stereo system, some books, and some random stuff. The company already wired me a $3,500 relocation allowance. That's the net take-home amount. The gross amount was actually $6,600, so you can see the taxes are incredibly steep over here. Wei Jin has already helped me find an apartment in Edison, New Jersey. It's a one-bedroom for $695 a month. That's fairly typical for New Jersey, though it certainly feels expensive. If I wanted to live any closer to New York City, it would cost even more. I'm planning to head up to New Jersey in early July. Since my lease there doesn't start until July 15th, I'll crash at Wei Jin's place until then. I have also submitted a "leave of absence" request to the department to officially pause my studies for a year. If it gets approved, I could theoretically come back and register for classes a year from now without having to re-apply for admission. Realistically, though, I doubt I'll ever actually use it. Enclosed with this letter are some film negatives from the photos taken during the Yellowstone trip. Wishing you the best, Tong 06/28/97