Michael Now the war is over, but there are still a few things to add: It was depressing to see how public opinion in America is manipulated by local TV stations for Joe Sixpack and the nonsense channel CNN. At times, we really felt like we were in the wrong movie, as half the city demonstrated against the war and it only received a brief mention in the evening news. As for the war, all you saw were clean green-blue flashes in the night sky. CNN also liked to showcase catalog images of the latest bombers or tanks and elaborated for hours on how super-fast or super-reliable the technical gadgets were, instead of reporting on the war events or political backgrounds.

Angelika And we observed a distinctly American phenomenon immediately after the outbreak of the war: As soon as American boys and girls are fighting, the criticism falls silent. Even the most liberal commentators of the New York Times, who just a day before were railing against the war machine, stood behind the fighting troops ("Support our Troops"). Now, it is not clear to me what one has to do with the other, and I tried to find out from our American friends and acquaintances what this is all about.

Michael By the way, I am surprised that the American army is allowed to mislead young adults on television with sensational commercials (see Rundbrief 03/2002 ). I would strongly advocate for requiring at least fine print at the end of such commercials, stating something like "Even though this all looks very great, there is still the possibility that you might end up dead in a body bag" -- similar to how cigarette manufacturers nowadays disclose the truth so that no one can sue them later.

Michael It's hardly remembered now, but the "Loma Prieta" earthquake fourteen years ago caused parts of a highway that then ran halfway through San Francisco to collapse. At that time, Highway 101 led into the city, but the structures supported by thick concrete pillars could not withstand the forces of nature. Bam! As soon as the highway became impassable, residents began to ask themselves: Hey, do we even need it? This sparked a heated debate between frustrated commuters, who had to take side streets, and the city residents.

Michael Every year, millions of tourists come to San Francisco, amusingly always visiting the same attractions: they go to Fisherman's Wharf, eat a hollowed-out sourdough bread bowl filled with clam chowder, and get startled by the homeless man who, for years, has been startling people by jumping out from behind a bush>http://www.anvari.org/photos/200305c/Bush_Man_4.html>jumping out from behind a bush .

Michael What is the name of the flatulence-like sound that is produced by sticking the tongue out a little from a slightly open mouth while simultaneously releasing turbulent air? It is undoubtedly an international gesture that mostly means 'I don't like it, but there's nothing I can do about it' or also stands for 'You can kiss my ass.' However, as far as I know, there is no German word for it. In English, however, there are two expressions: 'Bronx Cheer' and 'Raspberry.'

Michael Recently, an American colleague told me that as a little boy, he used to watch "Hogan's Heroes" on TV, a popular and funny early evening series about a group of US soldiers in a German prisoner-of-war camp during World War II. For research purposes, I programmed it into our TiVo--and what do you know, the 1960s series was repeated on some obscure channel at an ungodly hour and successfully recorded by the TiVo. These episodes are truly hilarious!

Michael When you're looking for European groceries in San Francisco or the Bay Area in general, you go to "Trader Joe's," an almost alternative supermarket chain where lots of happy people stand behind the registers, and sometimes the shoppers even help pack their own groceries--unheard of! In any case, the store has many things that are hardly available elsewhere in America: good German blue cheese (Cambozola), English cheddar (Stilton), or French cheese (Roquefort), excellent beer (Mendocino Brewing Company, SLO Brewery, Dutch Grolsch, and I even spotted Weihenstephaner recently), and unsweetened, whole fruit juices.

Angelika I am always fascinated by the ingenuity of Americans when it comes to expressing things concisely or vividly and clearly depicting situations that can only be described in a roundabout way in German. In this context, one might recall the Iraq War, during which many euphemisms were used. For example, the military strategy of the bombing campaign on Baghdad was described as "shock and awe," and the countries that uncritically aligned themselves with Bush were referred to as the "coalition of the willing."

Angelika For a long time, I have wanted to write about American "water fountains" that are found on every corner here. These small splashing faucets, also known as "drinking fountains," actually look like elevated bird baths. The difference is that you don't drink the water from a stagnant basin; instead, you press a small button on the side, which causes the water to spout upwards from a tap, allowing you to catch it with your mouth.