Settling in

Hey Everyone,
Today we had a beautiful day in Shanghai - the first since I arrived that was neither ridiculously hot nor stiflingly humid, instead: bearable temperature and a nice breeze ( mind you: every building here has air-conditioning, including my dorm and the class rooms; however, just a walk across campus or from the subway station to the store will get the average European sweating like a dog on a hot day ).
I was going to spend my afternoon relaxing in the People's Park ( 人民广场 ), which is located pretty much in the city center, directly adjacent to the most important museums and the city's main shopping area, but it was obviously totally overrun and it didn't take five minutes after I sat down, till some Chinese dude sat down next to me trying to practice his English. Well, At least I got a free Starbucks out of it ( which, btw, is one of the few places one can get coffee around here; most venues try to sell you a lukewarm sludge premixed with milk and lots of sugar ).
Other than that, things are good. Class started this week. I have three hours everyday, either reading, listening or speaking. Except for all the vocab I have to catch up on, this ( fortunately ) leaves me enough time for other adventures ( well, no real adventures so far, but we have vague plans for a trip to Hangzhou ( 杭州 ) during our little break in the beginning of October ).
Since I promised some pictures, I'd like to refer you to my friend Michelle's site:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/malmaeus5000
Note, however, I look either kinda gay of pretty grim on all the pictures I'm on. I'll try to make some less unflattering pictures of myself in the near future.