Angelika I saw many of you during my "Germany tour" in January and February or at least spoke to you on the phone. It was nice to have the opportunity to talk to you in detail and face-to-face again, even though the time just flew by. Many people asked me if much has changed in Germany or if I experience and perceive Germany differently now. The fact is that when you live abroad for a long time, you have a special eye for the peculiarities of your homeland.

For example, when you find the sign in the Frankfurt airport toilets that says, "Using the toilets is free of charge!" you immediately know that you are back in Germany. To be fair, it should be mentioned that the sign was at least in four different languages; they do try to be cosmopolitan. I also immediately noticed the smoking at Frankfurt airport or in the restaurants. As we have often reported, in California, you are not allowed to smoke in public buildings or in restaurants, pubs, bars, etc. It is quite astonishing how quickly you get used to it. Our friend Peter, who also lives in San Francisco and is a Bavarian and a heavy smoker, or rather was, was so unnerved by the smoking in restaurants and pubs during his visit to Germany last year that he completely gave up smoking -- to this day.

Angelika The discussion about dual citizenship also seemed "typically German" to me. I didn't quite understand why it's a catastrophe to have two passports. The argument I heard most often was that one must ultimately decide what they want to be. The idea that someone might want to be both seems difficult for many to grasp. Living abroad myself, I can well understand why someone wouldn't want to easily give up their citizenship. People want to keep the door open somehow, to be able to return at any time without problems, even if they might never actually do so. It's more of a psychological matter. Dual citizenship actually reflects how one feels when living in another country for many years. You become a bit of both. It's a shame that it has only come to a compromise in Germany.

By the way, America generally does not recognize dual citizenship either. However, the authority responsible for collecting the old passport does not enforce this, so many people end up having two passports. If a child is born on American soil to foreign parents, the child receives American citizenship and usually also the citizenship of the parents, and must choose one upon reaching adulthood. Otherwise, a foreigner can only become an American citizen after holding a Green Card for five years and having lived continuously in the country during that time. Additionally, one must demonstrate a reasonable proficiency in English and knowledge of the basics of American history and government structure.

This is assessed through a test. Questions might include: What are the colors of our flag? How many stars are on it? How many stripes? What do the stars represent? What do the stripes represent? Who is currently the President? Who is currently the Vice President? How many representatives are in Congress? These questions can make some people think hard. The answers, of course, are red/white/blue, 50, 13, the states, the 13 founding states of the USA, Bill Clinton, Al Gore, 435. It's logical, isn't it? Naturally, one must not have committed any crimes or been caught doing so if one wants to become an American citizen. As you can see, citizenship is not just handed out easily. Five years may not seem very long at first glance, but one must not forget that you need to have a Green Card, which is not so easy to obtain anymore. Moreover, not everyone has a Green Card. For example, we only have an ordinary visa.

This brings us back to the question of what it is like to live abroad and how one evaluates their own country based on this experience. It can perhaps best be described as seeing the advantages and disadvantages in both countries, being critical of both, but also learning to appreciate certain aspects more.

Since I've been back here, I've been spending a lot of time in the darkroom at UC Berkeley because I'm taking two photography courses this semester. I've already been given the title "Queen of the Darkroom," not by Michael, but by a fellow student who has taken a course with me before. I completed my certificate program "Children and the Changing Family" last semester, and lo and behold, the certificate arrived in the mail. It looks really fancy: stamp, university crest, etc. Since Americans are practical, the certificate is conveniently sized to fit in a picture frame. It definitely looks better than my high school diploma and university degree.

Angelika I was able to experience something else typically American during the earthquake training. Before it started, we had to sign a two-page document stating that we would not sue the fire department if we got injured during the training. It's important to know that in America, there are the most absurd liability lawsuits. The rule is that people sue when they believe they can get something out of it, meaning if you have no money, you don't need to worry about liability, but if you do have money, it's better to get good insurance. This liability policy is also the reason why McDonald's had to pay a woman millions a few years ago because she burned herself with coffee from a coffee cup, and there was no warning on the cup to be cautious because the contents were hot. Next time you're in America, you might want to pay attention to this. Almost every paper or plastic cup now bears this warning. In general, this liability hysteria has led to the most absurd precautions being listed on package inserts and instruction manuals, such as that it's not healthy to dry your cat in the microwave (this is actually true), or that you have to sign with doctors that you will settle out of court in the event of a liability case.

To return once more to the earthquake training: To ensure we don't fall out of practice, there is a so-called "drill" (something like a reserve exercise) twice a year. This year, the first one is on April 17th. It will be interesting to see how it goes.

So, now it's Michael's turn.

Michael Now for something completely different: What I've always wanted to get off my chest about the working conditions here: As is well known, Americans are content with a lousy two weeks of vacation a year. And, since there is no state religion here--unlike in Germany--but rather a colorful mix of cultures, everyone is allowed to define three additional holidays on top of the few public holidays in the year (New Year's, Martin Luther King Day, Thanksgiving, Lincoln's Birthday, Independence Day, President's Day, Labor Day come to mind). This way, the Chinese can celebrate their New Year sometime in February, and all the many religions, Mormons, Baptists, Scientologists, and whatever else there is--everyone gets their due.

Faced with this question, I would naturally choose February 19th--the death anniversary of Bon Scott, the singer of my favorite band AC/DC, but I usually take some Friday or Monday to extend a weekend. And regarding the working hours: My colleagues regularly laugh themselves sick when I tell them that in Germany the 35-hour workweek is actually the norm. In computer companies like AOL, there's no punch card, but everyone logs the hours they work on a project into a computer program, which allows the company not only to determine how much a project costs but also how many hours an individual works in a week. If there are only 40 hours logged, you can expect the boss to drop by and cautiously ask if you're still satisfied with the work and so on. The norm is more like 50 and sometimes 60 hours--and overtime is, of course, not paid; it's just a sign of how much you enjoy working.

So it's no big deal to work until three in the morning if there's a serious bug in the system or to work over the weekend if a project needs to be finished by Monday--totally normal, right! If there's a fire, you put it out, and just going home would be an absolute faux pas and unfair towards your colleagues. On the other hand, you have to see that in Germany hardly any employer would allow me to work from home two days a week and come to the office whenever I want. By the way, people are always in a good mood at the office; being "annoyed" or complaining is considered completely unacceptable. "No problem!" or "That's ok!" is the standard response to "Sorry." This is true for all situations: Even if someone accidentally poured a bucket of water over your head, the response would still be "Don't worry, that's ok!"

Anything else would be downright rude. "Socializing" in the workplace is emphasized; you talk to people you don't know yet, ask a few questions about what they're working on, and maybe crack a few jokes, even if you only see them briefly. One thing I always notice with visitors from Germany: You don't just say "Yes" or "No," you always add something. When the server in a restaurant asks if you want another coffee, it's not "No," but "No, thanks, I'm just fine." Or not just "Yes," but you say something original like "Yeah, sounds great!" or "Coffee'd be awesome, dude!" The latter, of course, only if you're dressed like a snowboarder :). At work, it's similar: If someone asks something, you help, even if you actually don't have time. This can be totally annoying when you're working on something and someone keeps coming by wanting to know something silly. And if you, like me, work in a cubicle, you're never really alone; there's always something going on. Since everyone gives their cubicle a personal touch, I'm planning to put a chair in soon so my visitors can sit comfortably. No kidding! I already have the chair at home; I just need to bring it to the office.

Michael And -- what takes a long time will finally be good -- we finally bought a car! After spending several weekends scouring car dealerships to find an affordable used car and getting increasingly annoyed by those sleazy salesmen, I ended up buying the car from some guy at work, to be precise, my boss's boss. It's an eight-year-old black Acura Integra (a better Honda) with a manual transmission, which is very unusual for America since everyone here drives automatics and most Americans can't even operate a stick shift. In San Francisco, that's quite a challenge, as streets with a 20% incline are still considered flat, and if you have to park in a tight spot, the clutch takes a beating.

The mechanic who inspected the car for me also told me that a clutch lasts about 60,000 miles in Silicon Valley and only 20,000 in San Francisco. Angelika was already worried sick, but I promised to give her an intensive "hill start" course over the weekend. One Sunday, we drove to Potrero Hill, and Angelika had to start the car repeatedly on the less busy streets there, first on the gentler slopes, then on the steeper ones, and it worked! The clutch's lifespan is now reduced by about 10,000 miles, but finally she got her San Francisco certificate!

The first accessory I bought was a coffee cup holder, because the car didn't have one, which is actually unusual for American cars, but oh well. Since I usually grab a coffee and a donut from the donut shop around the corner before I drive to work (when I drive), I obviously need a holder for the cup, otherwise the coffee would spill all the time!

The drive takes half an hour, I get on Highway 280 (called "Twoeighty!") right around the corner from us, and then it's a steady 70-mile-per-hour (about 110 km/h) ride while I listen to the station KSJO 92.3, which plays at least one Metallica and one AC/DC song every hour, awesome! This has, of course, led to me, um, well, neglecting my bicycle a bit, which Angelika always teases me about, saying I'm getting fatter, which is absolutely not true, complete nonsense! If the weather is nice and I don't have to move the car for street cleaning, I'll definitely ride my bike again, no question! And I'll sign up for a fitness center soon too. Stay tuned for this report -- in a new episode of this newsletter: "Michael on the Treadmill," stay tuned!

The car also doesn't have any air conditioning, which we'll probably be cursing about in the summer when it gets 100 degrees hot in Wine Country or Silicon Valley, but the main thing is that we have some kind of ride. But the thing has 120 horsepower (that's why I bought it, don't tell anyone)! The license plate currently reads "2ZAP439," but since in America, if you pay $100 a year (which goes to a charitable cause), you can choose your own letter combination, it will probably soon be "PERLMAN" or "PERLPWR." I've already checked, both are available. By the way, the DMV in California isn't clueless either: Since you pay 8.5% sales tax for a car bought from a dealer, but if you buy a car from a private person, this transaction completely bypasses the state, the DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) simply demands the tax when registering the car, no amount of crying and gnashing of teeth will help, the credit card has to come out! Well, so far the little Japanese car is running excellently, I hope it stays with us.

Michael I already wrote a little piece in the last newsletter about what the "German Accent" in the pronunciation of English sentences is all about. In the meantime, I have enrolled in a course at the University of Berkeley called "Pronunciation Skills in English," which is all about how to eliminate your accent so that you sound somewhat like an American. The course is led by a resolute old matron who drills the 10 participants, who come from China, Vietnam, France, and Germany, on how to pronounce words correctly with a California slang. She repeatedly emphasizes the stark differences between British pronunciation, which is taught in most schools outside of America, and American pronunciation.

For example, when a Brit says "offer," the American version almost sounds like "uh-ffer." We had to repeatedly emphasize the pronunciation of similar-sounding words, such as the difference between "few" and "view." Well? Well? If you read them aloud, you might not notice any difference at first, but since I am now a bit more educated, I'll tell you: The "f" in "few" is a voiceless (hissing) "f," while the "v" in "view" is voiced, almost like a German "w." Or what would be the difference between "France" (pronounced "Franz" in American English) and "friends"? Well? Well? Okay, I'll tell you that too: "France" hisses at the end, and "friends" not only has a more "e"-sounding "a" but also a voiced "s" (like in "hose"), nothing hisses. Additionally, when it doesn't hiss but hums, the word is drawn out, so "France" is noticeably shorter than "frieennnds." At the end of the course, we'll have to read a page of American literature (it must not be British!) aloud and record it on tape. The teacher will then give her comments and also record them on the tape.

Michael What I wanted to get off my chest: To motivate myself, I often listen to motivational tapes from my favorite guru, Anthony Robbins (he's the one who always shouts: "Make a difference today! Take action! Now!"), and since then, things have only been going uphill. So, I highly recommend it: In America, you can find tapes for everything and anything in every bookstore, like how to negotiate better, overcome fears, and plan career success. You can conveniently listen to these tapes in the car or on public transport with a Walkman and arrive at the office all fired up.

Anthony Robbins is the most well-known among the motivators; he also offers courses where you learn to walk over hot coals, all a matter of motivation. He also gives useful fitness tips; for example, on one tape, he mentioned that you should drink a lot of freshly squeezed fruit juice--and, bam! We bought a juicer, a $160 piece that quickly juices fresh grapefruits and oranges, and now we often drink half-liter amounts of fruit juice. Man, it tastes incredible, I tell you, and gives you energy to unroot trees! Unfortunately, you have to spend five minutes cleaning the juicer afterward, but the juice makes up for everything, it's so creamy and amazing. Jogging on the beach is also supposed to be healthy, so from now on, every Tuesday and Thursday, before I start working from home, I'll drive to the beach (20 minutes) and run for an hour in the sand, just past the incoming waves. Well, just fully Americanized, the man.

Michael Recently, the news reported that an oil refinery in Oakland caught fire, and just a few days later, a second accident occurred in Richmond, also near San Francisco. After the OPEC countries messed around with the prices, gasoline prices in and around San Francisco skyrocketed to dizzying heights within a few days. Although only one gasoline brand was affected by the accident, the other companies, not stupid, jumped on the bandwagon and also significantly raised their prices. As a result, gasoline now costs $1.65 per gallon (79 cents per liter) instead of the usual $1.20 per gallon (58 cents per liter), which is insane!

I was quite surprised when I had to shell out twenty dollars for a full tank instead of the usual $15. By the way, the fact that gasoline in America is still relatively cheap compared to European countries is not because it is produced more cheaply, but because the government here imposes almost no taxes on gasoline--because Americans have absorbed driving with their mother's milk, and owning a car is the most natural thing in the world. An American without a car is like a cowboy without a horse. Or, as someone recently put it at the bus stop when the bus didn't come again and they were frustrated with public transportation: "They're assuming everybody's got a car! Don't have one? Fuck you!". I'll leave the translation at that.

Michael And, perhaps you've heard it in the news, things are quite chaotic at AOL right now. AOL recently acquired internet pioneer Netscape for ten billion dollars. AOL is mainly based on the East Coast (with 9,000 people) and has only a small branch (100 people) on the West Coast here in San Mateo. The acquired company Netscape is based in Mountain View in Silicon Valley, about 30 kilometers from San Mateo, where about 2,500 people work. With the merger came a major restructuring effort, and the press announced 450 layoffs at Netscape and 450 at AOL.

This is how it happened: Suddenly, it was announced that within two weeks, it would be decided who could stay and who had to leave. On the day of the decision, three days later, the conference rooms, which are usually visible through the surrounding glass walls, were covered with paper, and people were called to meetings. Beforehand, the sad news was delivered to the candidates for dismissal. I was quite shocked to learn that it affected my cubicle neighbor Mike and my colleague Robert --two out of ten engineers were simply let go! Now, the two have been given a transition period of 4 months during which they can look for new jobs, and the severance package with three months' salary is better than usual elsewhere (where you are immediately thrown out), but still, that Wednesday was a tough day.

Eventually, the layoffs from other departments were also announced, and there were many tears, a sad day. Well, the working world in America is tough. Oh, yes, I forgot: The whole thing means that instead of commuting to San Mateo, I will have to go to the office in Mountain View going forward, which takes almost an hour by car instead of half an hour--but I'll survive. The positive side is that Netscape has plenty of real estate, and it is a real internet company from the early days: It is rumored that you're required to have long hair and own a skateboard to work there; there is also a campus with 20 buildings including a garden and pond, a cafeteria, many pool tables, rooms with sofas where you can lounge and think, a concierge to whom you can leave tasks to be done (e.g., "Please buy half a pound of sausage") and much more. Well, I'm curious.

Until the next newsletter!

Your American Adventurers:

Angelika und Michael