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I've lived in Hefei, China for the last 7 months. I've never been very good at short trips, I really enjoy settling in and exploring an area or a country. I spent months visiting family in Bolivia, weeks in Puerto Rico and when I had the chance to teach in China for a year I thought it's a good chance to really get to know a region. I immediately felt right at home. Everyone I met, international or local was excited to connect and share. I loved open-air markets, the cultural differences, and the warm and welcoming people. In Hefei every time you meet someone new they'll try and feed you. It's a great way to try the food, and save money, but not so good for my rapidly expanding waistline. It doesn't help that the food is amazing, affordable and everywhere. It would take years to eat your way through the local cuisine. Thankfully the Chinese style of sharing various dishes at a meal helps make it easier to try everything. Food is incredibly central to the culture here. People want to know if you've tried traditional foods, what you eat on holidays or if Burger King tastes the same (it's better in China). They're so excited when you like something, and if they ask if you like spicy be cautious, Sichuan dishes are a whole different level of spicy. Not to mention if you travel even a mile outside the city you'll get hundreds of restaurant recommendations to try. My advice is to write them all down because the food will most likely be incredible! If you ever have the chance to go, try and travel as much as you possibly can. Because of the connectedness of Chinese cities traveling is convenient and fast. Well, maybe just to someone who grew up in Ohio. Travel by train is especially easy, you can buy all the tickets you'll need from your phone, pick your seat and book a hotel in a few strokes. The seats are comfortable and they also offer sleeper trains for longer trips. The whole country is connected by either train or bus making it a great place to live without a car, not to mention big cities have UBER like services and/or subway systems for easy inter-city travel. On days I couldn't make it as far, I used these to explore locally. If you haven't been to China, it might be hard to imagine what a city looks like here. I'm telling you now, it's greener than you think it is. Most neighborhoods, especially if they are inclosed will have trees and walking paths through the neighborhood. Not to mention trees and flowers anywhere you can stuff them. The greenery really helps to break up the city and sets a nice background for my favorite part. The buildings. No, I do not have a love for grey and white mega apartment buildings, what I love in China is the contrast of the old and the new. Towering shopping malls shoulder to shoulder with historic residences and temples. In cities like Hefei, cobblestone meets pavement and flows right back as you make your way through the city. It's hard not to stop and take pictures every few feet, and I'll find myself smiling uncontrollably, realizing I live here. For a country, so incredibly different from where I grew up, I'm surprised by how comfortable I am. I only speak very basic mandarin, I live on the other side of the world from my family, but I feel at home. I kept waiting for that four-month slump and then the sixth-month slump and they never came. The infrastructure, people and the overall high level of safety have made it easy to fall in love with the city. As someone who loves to travel, it's disconcerting. If you put down deep roots everywhere you go it's inevitably harder to move on. But, I'm lucky to have settled into a place like Hefei. A place I felt at home. I felt a sense of belonging. I don't know how long I'll stay, but I know it won't be forever. I'm excited to see where else I belong.