Interim Report After One Year
Angelika Hello, my dears! As the year 1997 comes to an end, and Christmas is just around the corner, I want to delight you once again with a newsletter. Around this time last year, I started my first newsletter while sitting on moving boxes, and since then, I've been diligently reporting on our experiences here. Yes, it's hard to believe, but true, Michael has been here for over a year now, and I will celebrate my anniversary on December 30th. During this time, we've experienced quite a lot, gained new insights, learned a lot, and have become quite familiar with the country and its people. Hopefully, you're not horrified at the thought that we've turned into real Americans, whatever that means. No, don't worry, I don't walk around with red-painted fingernails, and Michael doesn't own a cowboy hat, just outrageously expensive sneakers that he loves to wear day and night (so, truly American). In general, if you live in California, you're not an American, but a Californian. Speaking of California, Thomas Gottschalk (yes, you read that right), who is known to live in Malibu, wrote a pretty funny article on this topic in Spiegel Spezial "California," from which I'll quickly quote a few lines:
"My mother occasionally grumbles, 'You and your California,' and reproachfully adds that someone like me, who has neither wandered through Rügen nor the Masurian avenues, doesn't know what scenic beauty is anyway. She also dismisses my repeated point that you can buy groceries around the clock in Malibu: Anyone who has their thoughts together during the day doesn't need to buy mustard at two in the morning... So why? What is the point of Californian existence? Probably in the nonsense! If the Romans are crazy, this is a madhouse. Almost nothing makes sense, not the weather, not the people, not the cars ..."
By the way, this Spiegel magazine issue is worth reading. It includes very good reports about life in California, a good mix of humorous, socially critical, and unusual content. So, anyone planning a trip to visit us should get a copy.
To return once more to the topic of America versus California versus San Francisco: When you have settled in San Francisco, you become a very special kind of species. No matter who we talk to, whether it's the hairdresser, the cashier at the supermarket, the magazine vendor, or one of our neighbors, everyone loves their San Francisco and insists that it is the most beautiful city in the world and that anyone who lives elsewhere must be crazy. Despite this perhaps somewhat exaggerated local patriotism, people remain very critical, and that's what Michael and I like so much. In our opinion, San Francisco is one of the most liberal places in the USA. Here, you can really openly discuss the social issues of the USA with almost anyone. Besides this liberalism, the city also has several other advantages, such as fantastic views, with the view from our apartment topping the Top 10 list (those who visited us this year know what I mean), great restaurants, good weather, people of all skin colors and cultures, the Golden Gate Bridge, the ocean, funny colorful houses, crazy shops ... you see, it's quite easy to enjoy life here.
Many people have been asking us lately when we will be returning to Germany. First of all, we still have every intention of doing so. Our new AOL visa officially lasts until the year 2000, but we are not planning that far ahead at the moment because the Black Sun situation has shown us that you never really know what will happen. If everything continues to go well at AOL, we will definitely be causing a stir in San Francisco until 1998, and then, as Michael likes to say, "we'll see." A lot also depends on my situation. At the moment, I am very satisfied with how I spend my days (courses, working in the Tenderloin), but at some point, I would like to work properly again, which means for money.
Many of you have also asked when we will be visiting Germany again. That is still uncertain. It mainly depends on whether Michael will come along, which is rather unlikely at the moment, as 10 days of vacation a year do not allow for big trips to Germany. We will definitely spend Christmas and New Year's Eve in San Francisco this year. We will also have our first Christmas tree together. Michael did roll his eyes a bit when I suggested this to him and made even more faces when I revealed that I plan to decorate the Christmas tree in red, blue, and white (colors of the American flag), but it is a done deal; we will buy our Christmas tree next weekend. It should be mentioned in passing that I would, of course, consider anyone who decorates their Christmas tree in Bavarian colors to be crazy. Our tree will naturally also have real candles and not an electric string of lights as is customary here. For this, I had to import German candle holders, as Americans find candles on the Christmas tree so suspicious that they refuse to sell these candle holders. I mentioned my plans with the real candles at a party when Americans asked me how we celebrate Christmas in Germany, which earned me pitying looks. I think everyone is firmly expecting that our apartment will burn down. It is truly astonishing that we are not immediately sued for gross negligence.
