The recommendation to live in PA for six months, then move to SF is prob a good one.
I'd prob live in Mountain View, though, rather than PA. While I'm at it, Mountain View has good ethnic restaurants, albeit with white prices. Try the Taiwanese place (Queen's?), the Persian grocery (good takeout kebabs), and Pho Hoa. In PA itself, my favorite restaurant is the brown rice sushi spot off of California (Homma's?) and, for nostalgic reasons, the little Asian cafe in the quad on campus (lunch only). There is great Mexican and Vietnamese all over San Jose. Check out Stanford's art museum if you have a free afternoon. Really impressive, IMO.
And, yeah, def get a bike. PA is the most bike friendly place I've lived.