I tell you right at the beginning the solution to both of them: Internet. Seems like we cannot live without it anymore. I knew this before, but right now I’m shocked how true this is! Does anyone remember the days when we couldn’t simply skype with our friends back home but had to make an expensieve phone call or write a letter? When we had to buy a map (I’m speaking of a paper map, have you seen such a thing lately?). I actually bought a map from Shenzhen but didn’t need it really though. My map app is much easier than searching street names in Chinese. Life has become much easier and still I don’t get along! How frustrating!
So I wasn’t able to talk to any Chinese on the street. I thought about going online to make some friends here, because this is actually they way we seem to find friends today. Scary, isn’t it? But all the people in the subway staring at their mobile phones are surely not learning Chinese vocabulary as I am but chatting with someone. But this way is also much simpler and less frightened than talking to strangers on the street. I found a page, shenzenstuff.com, where you can see what’s going on on Shenzhen and talk to other people living here. There I found an event of a vegetarian group who checks out all kind of vegetarian restaurants and they had a meetup just the other day, so I subscribed. I’m no vegetarian, but I’m really into the topic for the last month and I thought it would be a good topic to talk on and I was really interested in what people do think about it in China and how they manage and live it. So I was looking very forward to this!
The description seemed easy enough even I should find it. I was at the subway station early and I saw that the exit we should meet was closed. For I was way to early I went up another exit and studied a little bit outside enjoying the nice weather. When I got down again on time, the station was very crowded and I couldn’t pass from one side to the other without checking my bags again and the queue was very long! So I didn’t manage to get back in time and might have missed them for I couldn’t see anyone. But I also didn’t know how they look! I stayed there about half an hour, talked to some girls, if it was them and even called the number I had from the website, but there was only a Chinese girl answering which couldn’t speak English (and the ones on the webpage could speak English). I wrote a mail and got no reply and then I looked for the restaurant by myself but couldn’t even find it. I tried really hard but all for nothing.
After this I was really really frustrated! And because I was so happy I could finally talk to anyone and get to know some people. On my way to the restaurant I passed another one which had a light sign on top saying:

Vegan Awakening

That sounded really good and I wanted to visit the place anyway so I went back to the vegan restaurant. My first vegan restaurarant I had spottet so far in China, I couldn’t believe it! China goes vegan as well, nice! The restaurant was a pleasure! I can really recommend it to anyone visiting Shenzhen not only vegans. It might be a bit more expensieve than the ordinary chinese restaurant but is really worth it! Just take Line 1 to Chegongmiao and take Exit D. The restaurant is just around the corner. They have books to read, even some in English, the boss was speaking a little English, the staff isn’t. They also have raw food and food lightli cooked (about 40 degrees). The place is very light and clean, very cosy! The house cat was strolling around. The stuff is absolutely lovely and the food was great! A main dish costs around 48 yuan and I had two of them, because I wanted to try. The soup was really spicy and huge! And I had the best tea in my life, but unfortunately cannot remember the name.
On the next day on friday I managed to wash some clothes the first time. My teacher translated me the washing machine and I had a chance to ask the girlfriend of my host how the machine works. So it actually worked and I was able to wash and hang up my clothes. No big deal to do back home in Switzlerand, but big deal to do here in China! The mashines work different than ours. They have no washing programs with degrees as it seems. My teacher said that they don’t heat up the water. Also the design was different. Beside washing I tried to book a train ticket to Guangzhou online. This seemed easier but not easy enough. I checked that there were still free seats in the train and booked a bed in a female 4 bed room in a hostel. I decided against the luxury version of a single room in a common hotel for I hope I could meet some other travellers in the hostel like this and the bed is really cheap, only 57 yuan per night. If I don’t make it to Guangzhou is not much money lost. After that I couldn’t book the train ticket. Actually I could book it but after paying I got a mail that my booking has been cancelled. I tried 3 times to book a ticket with ctrip and then I tried another webpage which seemed to work. I was actually not believing that I would really get a ticket but I recieved both vouchers. But still I had to pick up the tickets on monday at the train station in Shenzhen and I already knew how bad it is to go there.
On the weekend I planned to do some tourist activity and I went to Window of the world. A miniature park with some of the greatest buildings of our world just in miniature. There was the Eiffel Tower in 1:6 and you could even climb up the stair or use the elevator. The entrance is more expensieve than other things to do in Shenzhen with 180 yuan for a day ticket and you have to pay for any other thing to do in the park like using the Eiffel Tower elevator or take a ride somewhere. The food was also more expensive and the seller in the shops were really aggressive and the things pretty expensive. When I entered a shop I instantly had a seller on my heels following me all around the shop and showing me all kind of things. Because of the sun I ended up with a new hat for I might have payed too much (90 yuan) and still got a little sunburn. The park was nice and I stayed all day and also watched the big nightshow and the firework over the Eiffel Tower. The only thing they had of Switzerland were – of course – the Alpes. Actually a building where you could ice skate and skiing inside. The evening show was a great artistic show with all kinds of artists. But I think the whole park is more like a family event. No one goes alone to such a place. No one but me. At lunch I think a woman stealed my food, because she just took it and after that they didn’t want to give me my food and I did what Chinese people do and screamed and cursed (but on English) and finally got something to eat.
I had an exhausting touristic day, still no friends, but at least I didn’t end up in some restaurant with hearts as decoration because it was Valentines Day. And some stranger, a chinese girl, took a selfie with me on it. She asked me to do a picture with me. I have absolutely no idea why she did that! Do you do selfies with strangers? Maybe I’m so exotic here, I don’t know.
It rained on sunday so i didn’t go to a park my teacher told me about but went to the cinema. The cinema isn’t really cheap. I payed 90 yuan for my ticket. I would pay the same price back home with my Carte Bleu (about 13.- Fr.). The newest movie, some chinese action movie, was completely sold out for the whole day and it was shown about every hour during the day! So I watched a drama of a chinese girl in Prag. Not the best movie I’ve ever seen, but I could listen to a little Chinese and lucky me the film was subtitled in English and because it played in Prag there was even some English spoken in the movie and I could follow pretty well. A nice chinese man even carried my umbrella after me which I forgot after the movie (I always do!).
Then I wanted to learn and went to the Starbucks nearby my school and in the building of the great book mall at grand theater station. I couldn’t even start when a man asked if he could see my book. He watched it very interested and tried to talk English with me. He is learning English for he needs it for his job. He didn’t speak fluently and had to think a lot before speaking but actually he spoke pretty well and far better than I speak Chinese. I’m still missing the vocabulary! I still didn’t dare to speak much Mandarin. Only a few words. What is wrong with me? I should really try harder! I’m so afraid of speaking, I can’t explain why this is. But we had a very nice chat for about 4 hours and he is the very first local person beside my school contact and my teacher I talked to. 
Actually I think he was pretty shocked that I went to Shenzhen all on my own without knowing anyone and without a single friend and that he was the first person I talked to after 2 weeks. I had a feeling that he was thinking that I’m a little mad. But maybe I am. He couldn’t also believe why someone would want to learn Chinese just for fun when not need it for work or anything. But he was very interested in life in Switzerland. 
So I was thinking it is important to learn Chinese for the future and he thinks it is more important to learn English, funny thing!
I had my very first chat but still didn’t learn and went home pretty late, even my favorite restaurant in Gangxia had already closed so I had to eat some Chinese fast food I still don’t get how to order and what. When I went back to my place the shower didn’t work again, but a huge cockroach passed by and I remembered how I dislike the apartment and was really angry and sad. I left a note to my host about the shower and went to bed early but didn’t sleep all too well for I was still angry and knew that I would have to collect my train tickets the other day.
In the morning the shower worked again, the host fixed it and apologized on my note. So my mood got a little better. My teacher was sick and moved our lesson to the afternoon so I decided to go to the train station right away. First I checked which one and noticed that it wasn’t the one I thought. It was Shenzhen West, a different one and pretty far away. I looked up in the Internet (Internet again!) how to get there and needed about half an hour with the subway. When I got out at the subway station there were again some notes that all exits were closed except one. When I exited through it I was in nowhere land, really! There was nothing there, it was all just on the way to be built. It was all a real big area under construction, maybe a new district or an old one that is rebuilt, I don’t know. I had no plan where to go, for there were no big streets or signs or anything. I walked up a little way and some policemen send me back. The mobile internet on my phone didn’t work and I was lost. Back at the station a man on a motorcycle asked me where I had to go and I said the Chinese word for station and he answered: Jump up! So I jumped up and he started the vehicle. When he was driving he said it’ll cost 30 yuan. I read about taxis and I’m pretty sure that a reasonable price would have been somewhat between 10 or 20 yuan but actually I had no other choice than this man, because I had really no clue where to go! It wasn’t then so easy though and I finally got why there were no taxis but men with motorcycles. The new street was closed and the man drove on the street first than on the sidewalk and down a smaller hill over some grass. The whole ride was really adventurous and somewhat not from this world. I felt like in the movie Mad Max!
But I ended up at the station which was still in nowhere land but I could see the city live beside it. The station was small and also under construction. Some nice stuff helped me to find the ticket corners and I finally got my tickets very easily. Now I have my train tickets to Guangzhou and will stay there 5 days over Chinese spring festival. I think I’ll go to the station one hour before, for I have seen that you have to kind of check in with your ticket and do some security checks. I went back to another subway station on foot and I think I need an hour from my place to the train station. Half an hour by subway and half an hour by foot but I should actually easier find the way then from this strange new station. Hopefully I will visit Guangzhou this week and if I manage to buy another train ticket from there to Zhuhai I might even visit another city these days. I just hope the subway is as easy as everywhere and that I can find my hostel!
Shenzhen people all return home over the holidays so the city will be pretty empty. This is because Shenzhen is a very new city, my new friend told me, and all the people are not born here but moved here and are therefore not origin Shenzhen people. In Guangzhou there are more origin people and also Guangdong dialect spoken as he told me.
So after this second week I managed to buy 2 train tickets, wash my clothes and got a new friend. We will stay in contact over Skype and WeChat and try to practice some more English and hopefully also Chinese!
My teacher was still sick in the afternoon so my lesson today was cancelled. And for I was so busy at the weekend and didn’t feel all so good by myself today, I decided to stay in my room for just one day and learn and write to you all. 
The rain actually stopped, but it is very foggy outside, also very hot and humid. Resting one day after two active weeks seems a good plan and I really hope I don’t get sick as well!