Thanksgiving Fun

Dear Dad and Mom, I got both of your letters (the ones sent on November 14th and 19th). This semester is finally winding down—we only have one week left. Classes wrapped up today, and I actually just finished an exam this morning. I have one more final next Thursday, plus a "take-home final," which means exactly what it sounds like: a final exam you get to finish at home. Time is flying; I can’t believe the semester is almost over. Right now, everyone in the US is gearing up for Christmas, the biggest holiday of the year. Even the office doors in our department are completely decked out with beautiful, festive decorations. You mentioned reading some articles about the hardships of studying abroad, but honestly, it doesn't feel that "bitter" to me. Sure, the coursework is a bit more demanding than back home, but it's manageable. My health insurance here at UT is excellent. As a TA, I get the exact same coverage as the faculty and staff. My premium is $180 a month, and a doctor's visit only costs me a $5 copay. Prescriptions are just $5 too. It even covers dental! Medical insurance over here is very complicated and a lot of it goes over my head, but I'm just hoping I stay healthy so I never have to figure it out. The air and environment are much cleaner here anyway, so I doubt I'll be getting sick much. To get by in the States, about $1,000 a month is plenty. I don't really keep a strict budget, so I'm not entirely sure where every dollar goes. I just paid this semester's tuition on November 30th. I spent a good bit when I was getting settled—buying a phone, a TV, a CD player, and things like that added up to over $300. After paying two months' rent, I have about $400 left, but next semester’s $1200 tuition is due in a week. Looks like I'll need to take out another loan. I’m aiming to get a job this summer; if I can save up a few thousand dollars, buying a car shouldn't be an issue at all. So please don't worry or think I'm suffering over here—on a material level, I'm already very happy with my life. For Thanksgiving, five of us (me, my two roommates, and two neighbors from Taiwan) split a nice rental car and drove down to Houston. The drive from Austin takes about 2 to 3 hours. The cars move incredibly fast on the highway—doing 70 to 80 mph (roughly 120 km/h). It might sound a bit terrifying to you guys! We hit the road at 9:30 AM and didn't get back until 1:00 in the morning. We spent most of the day touring NASA, and then drove around Houston just exploring. Since it’s right on the coast, the scenery is gorgeous and there are nice sandy beaches. We even drove out to an island, and ended the night in Chinatown. It was wild—you don't even need to speak English there! We found a Chinese place and treated ourselves to a great seafood dinner. Because I am still an amateur at this, I brought a camera but forgot a flash, so I could only take photos outside during the day. I didn't get many shots, but we had a blast. Life in the US is pretty hectic with work and classes, so whenever a holiday rolls around, we look for any excuse to get out and have fun! The whole Houston trip only cost us about $20 each for the car rental, gas, and seafood. That doesn't include the $12 ticket for NASA though (which was honestly so expensive!). Thanksgiving is also when Americans go absolutely crazy shopping. We went to a massive factory outlet mall about 40 minutes outside of Austin. Since they're direct factory stores and it was Thanksgiving, everything was deeply discounted. The crowds were unbelievable. Aside from being on campus, I have never seen that many people in one place in America. Just finding a parking spot was a nightmare! That SONY CD player I mentioned? I bought it right there at the SONY outlet store. I’ll definitely move early next year and find myself a new roommate. I posted an ad online, and an American student reached out to me. He’s a really nice guy who is fascinated by Asian culture and even speaks some Japanese. He's a Radio-Television-Film major and wants to move to Hong Kong after graduation to make movies. The only downside is that the place is a bit pricey—$320 a month each. It’s a very reasonable price for a fully furnished 2-bed, 2-bath place right next to campus, but it's a stretch for my budget, so I haven't officially decided yet. His current Japanese roommate is moving out at the start of the month, but he told me he's willing to hold the spot for me until the end of February. I'll wrap things up here for now. Take care! Tong 1995.12.07