I have been living Beijing since November 4th, and although I still have a lot of the city to explore and experience, right now I'm pretty sure their subway system is the best thing that has ever happened to me. After growing up in suburbia and living about an 1 hour away from the nearest subway stop in Shenzhen, Beijing's metro system feels like a godsend. Crossing the city can still take around an hour, but a smooth ride on the subway or train beats a crowded bus anytime.

Currently I'm living in a student dorm in Beijing's Haidian District. The Beijing Foreign Student's Activity Center is an independently owned international student residence. It has a great location, only about 10 min from the Wudaokou subway stop by bus (30min by foot). I've been enjoying hot showers in my private bathroom and a quite study environment. The mini mart has also really come in handy for random breakfasts consisting of croissants and doughnuts. Anyone looking for a safe place with basic comforts to start out in Beijing should consider it...it's a good base for people studying Chinese at nearby universities and private schools. I've even bumped into a few expats that are semi permanent residents

The Haidian district encompasses the northwestern part of Beijing. From what I can tell it seems to a hub for academia and high tech companies. Peking University, China's top University, is located out here along with several other prestigious schools. Lots of college students, both Chinese and international, are usually roaming around.

Nearby Zhongguancun street is also apparently a household name. I've heard it referred to as China's "Silicon Valley", which seems appropriate since familiar names such as Microsoft seem to pop up here and there as you take in sites from the metro. I'll be visiting the Wal Mart I spotted at the Zhichunlu subway stop (intersection of Lines 13 and 10) as soon as possible for some badly needed winter gear.

For those of you who don't care about prestigious universities or high tech companies, Haidian offers a great base for some important site seeing. The Summer Palace is about a 20 RMB cab ride away. The Bird's Nest and Water Cube are also easily within walking distance.

Other key locations nearby include a student bar at the Wudaokou subway stop. You have access to three floors, with a Mexican Restaurant called La Bamba up top, a bar called Propaganda on the 2nd floor, and below a dance club that gets pretty packed late night as the bar flys migrate downstairs. I haven't tried La Bamba's Mexican food....I am still skeptical in part from enjoying Mexican Food in Southern California , and in part because Shenzhen's expat Mexican restaurants never seemed to get things quite right. However, drink prices are reasonable and it's good to have a place to mingle with random expats from countries throughout the world.

Homesick Americans should also take some time to visit the Krow's Nest, located near Peking University's West gate. They were originally an independently owned restaurant that gained momentum with their massive pizzas, and have since opened up two new restaurants in other areas of Beijing. (http://www.thekrosnest.com/). There's no better cure for culture shock than a massive dose of extra large cheese pizza...hands down the best I've found in China so far. It's refreshing to see someone besides Domino's and Papa John's stepping into the Chinese pizza market.

After you live in China for a while, you will inevitably learn that the law of osmosis doesn’t apply to its language or culture. If you don’t take steps to actively interact, study, and improve, the sites and sounds of your everyday life will probably be just as baffling as when you first arrived. More familiar, but still baffling. In other words, a plane ticket and an apartment will only get you to the door. It’s up to you to work your way in and explore.

Counting myself among the many foreigners who have decided to call China home for a while, I can honestly say that most people (myself included) bump into this problem sooner or later. My first solution was trying to teach myself Mandarin and leaving my apt more often, but this plan resulted in lots of random “Learn Chinese Quickly” book purchases and only a little bit of spoken language.

After enjoying structure and classmates for a while, I’m sure that signing up for an actual Chinese class was a step in the right direction. Hopefully I’ve made another one by deciding to move in with a host family. Fortunately, my Mandarin school had an opening in one family after their previous guests, a Vietnamese couple, returned to their home country.

A few days ago I moved from the ground floor of my student dorm to a cozy apartment overlooking the Beijing skyline, with the infamous Water Cube and Bird’s Nest glowing softly in the distance. Nothing too fancy, but definitely a nice place to call home. So far it has been a big challenge. My two hosts, an old Chinese couple, have been very welcoming and friendly but don’t speak a word of English. While I can’t complain about the food my host mom cooks (amazing), our nightly conversations are still pretty rough around the edges. More often than not, I have to use guess work to communicate but it forces me to talk, listen and think instead of staring at the internet or heading to the bar.

Culturally, I've quickly learned that both real and host Chinese mothers hate it when you leave the house without warm headgear and socks during winter. I wouldn't recommend trying it, unless you like being cold and making your host mom worry. It will be interesting to see how things develop over the next few months, particularly with Chinese New Year approaching.