Hi, I will start my PhD program at Georgia State U this fall. I definitely wanna befriend with people from GA tech and Emory . I've never been to this city despite four years in US, but from other's advice, areas like Buckhead, Druid Hills, Virginia Highland, Decatur are decent and safe places to live and they are not far from Emory. In Georgia, as far as I learned, you can use the Chinese license in the first few months (Emory should tell you exactly what other documents you should bring along with the foreign license). You definitely wanna get a Georgia license in a few months. I don't think it's hard to get a license. I passed the written test and driving test in Indiana with a breeze...should be similar in Georgia i think...Use www.dds.ga.gov for more info. Get a car, your life will be much easier, but i guess in Atlanta, you don't have to drive everyday...