Getting settled at Stanford

Bonjour guys! The ten first days in the US have been super hectic and a bit crazy. After the crazy jet lag of the first days, we set ourselves in the quest of finding an apartment relatively close to Stanford University. Easier said than done. The Bay Area is infamously known for its pricey accommodations, and I have to mention that I would never have been able to live in the Bay Area without the help of the Norwegian Research Council, which is generously helping me in addition to the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Global grant. Of course, I could have lived in a cheap community house (well, it is actually not that cheap! about 1500 USD per month), sharing a house with 10 other poor academic people. However, I feel that I am past this period of my life, and it is more practical to have my own place, so that my wife and family members can easily come for visit! Anyway, we visited about ten apartments before finding the right place in Palo Alto Downtown. This place is only a few minutes by bike from Stanford University, pretty cosy and one of the most affordable places we have been visiting. After opening a bank account and transferring quickly the deposit and first rent from my Norwegian account, we got the keys of our new apartment just one week after we moved to the US! I think we deserve a cheering clap on our shoulders. Good job! In the looong list of things that was fixed during the first days, we bought two bikes as we had to unfortunately to return our car rental. We now have to survive with bikes in the country of CARS! gl hf! (good luck, have fun!). Ok, I got to go to fix more stuff. Next on the list (Internet, US phone, Social Security Number, Health insurance and much more!). Help!