Michael San Francisco is known to be located at the northern tip of a peninsula. If you want to go north, you take the Golden Gate Bridge to Marin. If you want to go east, you drive over the gray Bay Bridge to Oakland. To the west lies the Pacific Ocean, and only to the south can you leave San Francisco without using a bridge.

Angelika Several American friends have asked us about the German spa system, both fascinated and bewildered. Paid spa treatments are seen by Americans as the icing on the cake of the German welfare state. However, disappointment quickly followed when I explained that paid spa treatments, in the traditional sense, have been dying out in Germany for a long time.

Michael One of the biggest stereotypes about America is that there is no bureaucracy. However, as soon as you have dealings with authorities here, you'll find that exactly the opposite is true; red tape is even worse here than in Germany. This certainly applies to the insanely complicated tax return, but there are even more interesting examples.

Michael I dug up these regulations because recently a police car drove up to the Yahoo parking lot and issued hefty fines to all the cars parked in disabled parking spaces without a disabled permit. They're not cheap; each one cost about 300 dollars! I can, of course, only laugh about these problems because I almost always ride my bike or take the shuttle bus provided by Yahoo! to work.

Michael When I visited Germany a few years ago and wanted to jet back to the USA after a week of vacation, the German border officer asked me if I lived in San Francisco. This was quite logical, as Angelika had just passed through the border exit control, and her German passport listed San Francisco as her place of residence.

Angelika Sometimes things actually happen in this country that I never would have thought possible in my life. At the beginning of April, politicians (both Democrats and Republicans) decided to introduce a health insurance mandate for their citizens in the state of Massachusetts starting in July 2007.

Michael In our series "well-known American rules for children that no one knows in Germany," today: the Five-Second Rule. If something edible, like a piece of chocolate, falls on the floor, the clock starts ticking: If you manage to retrieve the fallen piece within five seconds, it can be eaten without worry. If more than five seconds pass, it must go in the trash. The idea behind this is obvious: the good piece allegedly cannot accumulate enough bacteria within five seconds to be harmful to your health.

Michael Some things in America haven't changed since the days of the Wild West: the gentleman still holds the door open for the lady. This is not only the case at highly formal events but is also common practice in everyday life. It is also quite common for the first person in a group to, for example, pull open a restaurant door and hold it open while the rest of the group walks in.

Michael Here in the U.S., there is this TV show called "Saturday Night Live," which, as the name suggests, is broadcast on Saturday evenings and is supposed to be quite funny. At least it used to be, back in the days when "Wayne's World" started on this very show and eventually became a huge hit.

Michael German humor doesn't have a good reputation internationally. Generally, Germans are considered to lack any ability to be funny. People only enjoy the involuntary comedy of German stiffness. Take a look at the latest Volkswagen ad : A crazy guy in a white coat appears in America, speaks English with a fake German accent, and mimics American behaviors. Americans find that funny.

Angelika One of the unbeatable advantages of San Francisco is its location. While other people go on vacation and spend hours on a plane to get there, we can drive there in just a few hours. California is known for its size and diversity, and many tourists don't have the time to deviate from the classic routes. Most people drive along the "Highway 1," known as America's dream road, from San Francisco heading south along the coast, which is certainly not to be underestimated, but they sadly neglect the north coast. As far as I'm concerned, it can stay that way, as we don't want to be stuck behind lines of cars during our trips. The stretch between San Francisco and Eureka definitely makes my heart beat faster. There's nothing more beautiful than driving the winding road on a cozy sunny day and enjoying the breathtaking views of the sparkling Pacific. The north is rougher, perhaps a bit sleepier, and you encounter more of the type of people I like to call sea dogs. That's where my North German soul feels at home. Sigh!

Michael Recently, at REI in San Francisco, I bought new hiking boots. To break them in, we went to the Marin Headlands despite the somewhat unsettling weather. After about 5 miles on the trail, a mountain biker called out to us that he had seen a coyote. We were almost back at the car anyway, and as we marched steadily, I suddenly noticed a frantic movement on the ground. A snake slithered just inches past my boots across the path. Naturally, I performed quite the bear dance!