Michael The traffic on the two highways, 101 and 280, which lead from San Francisco to the more southernly located Silicon Valley, has now reached catastrophic proportions. The speed limit of 65 miles per hour (about 100 km/h) on these four-lane highways (per direction!) does mean that everyone drives roughly at the same speed, which is why American highways generally handle much more traffic than German ones, but too much is too much.

Michael The train from San Francisco to the more southernly located Silicon Valley is called Caltrain and feels like a time travel back to the year 1960. Over the last 40 years, Americans have invested everything in highways and nothing in public transportation, which results in the fact that even in the most successful high-tech area in the world, train travel is still exactly like it was forty years ago: with a diesel locomotive that the engineer pushes to a maximum speed of about 80 km/h, constantly ringing a mechanically operated bell. The train rattles like on the route from Kolkata to New Delhi. The journey from San Francisco to Mountain View, which is about 60 km further south, takes an hour. The trains run hourly, with slightly more frequent service during peak times in the morning and evening.

Michael Apart from the unbearable traffic conditions, there is another reason why I don't like to move our car: It is very difficult to find a parking spot in San Francisco. Since we don't have a garage, if one of us comes home with the car after seven in the evening, we sometimes have to drive around the block for up to half an hour to find a spot. If we happen to have parked the car near our apartment, we think twice about moving it again. Parking spots are evaluated based on street cleaning days -- a "Monday parking spot" has to be vacated on Monday because that's when the street sweeper comes. Getting a Monday parking spot on a Tuesday, where the car can theoretically stay for a whole week, is considered a superhuman achievement, often celebrated with champagne. On the other hand, if you park your car late on Tuesday evening on a 7 AM Wednesday parking spot due to lack of alternatives, you might as well go to bed wearing a fool's cap.

the fire hydrant!>

Michael Regarding our parking situation: In San Francisco, a street sweeper truck comes by on most streets once a week. During this time, parking is not permitted, as the sweeper needs to pass through without obstruction. Therefore, it's important to always check the displayed street cleaning signs before parking your car. Each street has its own cleaning schedule. For example, on the east side of Church Street, where we live, it's Wednesday from 8 to 10 in the morning. On the west side, it's Monday, also from 8 to 10. On the north side of 23rd Street, it's Friday from 12 to 2 in the afternoon. On the south side, it's Tuesday, also from 12 to 2 in the afternoon. The street sweeper usually comes by right in the middle of the two-hour window, accompanied by some ticketing officers who issue $30 tickets for each parked car--but only immediately before the sweeper passes through. Once the sweeper has gone by, you can park again on that side right away, even if the two-hour period hasn't passed yet.

Michael San Francisco also has a public transportation system called the "San Francisco Municipal Railway," or "MUNI" for short. Bus lines with numbers and streetcars with letters (J, K, L, M, N) transport people above ground. The line that passes by our house on Church Street is called J-Church. By the way, there is a fairly well-known alternative rock band in the USA named "J-Church." The music might be rather ungrounded, but guess which city they come from?

Michael When you're on foot, you no longer have to worry about being ambushed by some wild street gang members -- San Francisco has become very tame lately. Instead, there's a new nuisance: Recently, while I was training for the marathon and running through the "Glen Park" neighborhood, I encountered a woman pushing a stroller, and a dog. The dog was a completely unremarkable-looking like a Collie (like Lassie), and I unsuspectingly ran past the trio. Suddenly, the unleashed mutt snapped at my calf and bit into it!

Angelika Michael's detailed report on transportation policy already revealed quite a few secrets to you. I've always used public transit to conduct my social studies. If you really want to get to know San Francisco, just hop on a bus or street car. Many adventures await you. I'm not talking about the world-famous Cable Car, because locals in San Francisco generally don't use the Cable Car to get from point A to point B. No, even the "locals" ride the Cable Car mostly for fun, often with visitors in tow. Take the bus, tram, or BART if you want to understand what makes this city tick. One of my favorite bus lines is number 30 "Stockton," because this bus goes right through Chinatown, and you can feel firsthand that San Francisco has the largest Chinese population outside of China. But be careful! The bus is always packed, so it's not for those who suffer from claustrophobia. Going from Asia to South America? That's just a stone's throw in San Francisco. Hop on bus No. 14 "Mission," which takes you past taquerias and a colorful mix of shops through the Latin American neighborhood (called "The Mission"). You'll encounter colorful characters on bus number 48, which departs almost right outside our door. The reason for the extravagance is rather sad, as the bus line passes by the "General Hospital," which has a crisis intervention center for psychiatric patients. Patients are treated at this center even if they are uninsured.

Angelika This month, our "Mr. President" embarked on a trip to Europe. As we heard and read, Bush did not exactly cover himself in glory, as he lived up to the ugly image of the stubborn, unyielding Texan cowboy who prioritizes his friends in the oil industry above all else. Environmental protection? Never heard of it! This lack of environmental awareness is also causing Bush to lose face domestically. The Kyoto Protocol may be an unfamiliar term to many Americans, but the fact that Bush wants to drill for gas in Alaska or that he reversed the law reducing the maximum levels of arsenic in drinking water (initiated by Clinton) angers many. Therefore, before his trip to Europe, Bush showed some concern for the environment by visiting two National Parks (the "Everglades" in Florida and the "Sequoia National Park" in California). Will that help?