Angelika In November, San Francisco set a new, sad record. We officially had the worst air quality in the world, even worse than Beijing. The cause was a wildfire up north, in the small town of Paradise. Although the place is a good three-hour drive north, in Butte County, wind and weather brought the bad air filled with soot particles all the way to San Francisco.

Angelika Due to the poor air quality, not only were respirator masks in San Francisco highly sought after and frequently sold out, but air purifiers for living spaces also were in high demand. We, too, purchased one from the company Levoit, which is headquartered in Anaheim near Los Angeles. The LEVOIT LV-H132 humidifier not only looks good but is also supposed to filter harmful particles from the air for your home. We definitely ran ours extensively to ensure that even the last fine soot particle disappeared from our living room.

Michael To find out why many Germans speak English with a terrible accent, you only need to listen closely to a native English speaker and pay attention to the intonation. While German has hardly any tonality, English is pure sing-song. Americans raise and lower their voices several times in a sentence, while Germans continue to drone on at the same pitch. To pronounce English correctly as a foreign language, Germans have to make a real effort and incorporate melodies like a canary. Because I only speak English at work, I have already adopted such a sing-song that I regularly have to pull myself together when I speak German so that it doesn't sound Americanized.

Michael We don't exactly live large in a small city apartment, so we have to save space and always make sure that the old junk we no longer use disappears quickly. That's why every six months we go through our wardrobe and ruthlessly sort things out. The old T-shirt that keeps getting pushed further down the pile and hasn't been worn in six months? Out it goes. The pants that are too tight? Goodbye. Or the old computer monitor that's still good but has been replaced by newer technology? It all has to go.

Michael Like a good American, I now confidently present my credit card when I buy rolls for $2.50 at the supermarket, even though Angelika later gets upset when she compares the charge on the credit card statement with a receipt that is often missing. But hardly anyone pays in cash in the USA, except for people who can't get a credit card. In Rundbrief 07/2010 , I've previously reported on the pointless American small change, and since then not much has changed.

Michael Visitors from Germany are regularly shocked by the number of homeless people hanging around in San Francisco. It has become normal for them to set up tents right in the middle of the sidewalk, forcing regular pedestrians to walk on the street. And the police don't even come anymore when someone randomly smashes car windows to rummage inside for something of value; this has become as much a part of the cityscape as the Cable Car. Recently, we saw someone in the middle of the city selling a whole stack of vacuum-sealed meat from the supermarket out of his coat.

Angelika After almost twelve years of service at the behavioral therapy early intervention facility for autistic children, I finally made the leap and changed jobs at the end of August. After twelve years, you do get into a bit of a rut. You know your way around, understand how the place operates, and have a thousand concerns about starting something new because no one can predict exactly what will come. I'm not exactly a young sprout anymore, and I also struggle with the fact that no one here really knows my qualifications. I have a diploma in "Heilpädagogik" from a German "Fachhochschule". Back in my day, there were no other options, but studying at a Fachhochschule is often faster than at a University if you don't count the various internships that students usually have to complete and then the recognition year. When converting degrees to the American system, however, usually only the years spent at a university count, and degrees from Fachhochschulen are often equated with the American bachelor's degree and are not considered a higher degree, which are called "masters" here. This is a somewhat skewed assessment because the bachelor's degree in the USA is more like a combination of the German Abitur and the preliminary diploma. Thus, an American bachelor's student still has to take general education courses such as English, math, and history and rarely specializes in a subject. The problem was that, although I am well-trained by German standards with a lot of experience, I lack the master's degree by American standards, and the positions that only require a bachelor's degree here are often subordinate and poorly paid.

Michael As is well known, I have long harbored a grudge against the cable monopolist Comcast, which dominates our region. We canceled our cable subscription at least ten years ago, and I have no intention of ever supporting that lousy company again.