Michael Surely you've noticed that in the USA there are cars with strange license plates. Normally, it's a number, three letters, and then three more numbers (e.g., "2ZAP438"), and unlike in Germany, it doesn't indicate which city the car is from. Instead, only the design and color of the license plate show which state the car is registered in. In California, it says "California," in Oregon, there are forests depicted. Additionally, each state has a slogan: Arizona -- Sunshine State. Hawaii -- Aloha State. Oregon -- where it rains all year long. Haha. Just kidding. But: Some license plates don't have the usual number-letter combinations, but simply read "CLINTON" or "ARNOLD" or "YEAH." It works like this: Just as you can get the license plate "M-AX 1964" in Munich by paying a fee to the vehicle registration office, in America, you can get any (I emphasize: any!) license plate for your car. This costs, depending on the design, between 20 and 30 dollars a year, which goes to a charitable cause. Now, I've always wanted to be the "PERL MAN," yes, in fact, Angelika once gave me a fake license plate with this inscription as a gift -- so I asked myself: Why not for real?

Michael Recently, I attended a full-day course on time management at Netscape, which I had signed up for. The company "Franklin/Covey" offers courses where you learn how to use their calendar system. You learn how to manage your time effectively, prioritize tasks, and distinguish between important and unimportant matters to achieve more in less time. It was an impressive presentation.

Michael I am known for only wearing sneakers these days. Of course, not just any cheap shoes from the supermarket, but top high-tech sneakers from Mizuno. Forget Adidas. Forget Nike. Forget Reebok. I hereby declare the "Mizuno Waverider" as the shoe of the season. Of the year. Maybe even of the decade. I need to elaborate a bit on my sneaker obsession. Here in America, everyone wears sneakers, from teenagers to the elderly, it's completely normal. And if you work in the software industry, sneakers are more than just footwear. If you're a programmer, you wear sneakers. Period. If you work in sales or marketing, you don't. Just like in Germany, where people distinguish between those who wear ties and those who don't. The latest insider term, by the way, is "Marketroid" for marketing people, a mix of marketing person and "android," meaning robot. Just a side note.

Michael I had already told you about my colleague Dieter, who lives in Santa Cruz and also works at Netscape -- you know, the one with the Bavarian flag in his cubicle. It turns out that Dieter also knows Christian, who came from Bavaria to the USA with Siemens and now works at Netscape. Among the two thousand employees at Netscape, there are, believe it or not, three Germans. We all met for lunch at a Mexican burrito place, and it turned out that Christian also studied at the Technical University of Munich and often played cards in the cafeteria during his studies (he studied almost at the same time as I did) -- which your dear narrator, ahem, also loved to do. So we planned to find a fourth Bavarian, Ernst from Siemens, and persuade him to play Schafkopf in Silicon Valley. A pub was immediately chosen: "Hardy's Bavaria" in Sunnyvale, where a Bavarian is the host and, according to insider circles, you are allowed to play cards -- possibly the only pub in all of America where that's possible.

Michael In the internet age, there is, of course, no resting or hesitating -- you always have to stay one step ahead of the competition. And from Europe (specifically from a gentleman in Switzerland), I heard some mild mockery regarding my internet connection. Because I was still using a regular modem, while nowadays (greetings to Oldenburg: even ISDN is Stone Age technology!) people have either cable modems or DSL. "Enough!" I shouted and called our telephone company "Pacific Bell."

Michael And here's some more exciting news. You've all been waiting for this. Sit down. Here it comes: We bought a new electric toothbrush. "Oh my, oh my," you might say now, but it really is exciting: The company "Sonicare" manufactures an electric toothbrush that moves its brush head so quickly that it creates ultrasonic waves. I bought it right away at Costco, only a hundred dollars! Brush your teeth with it for two minutes and you'll feel like you've just come from the dentist, who treated you with that thing that always goes "eee-eee-eee." I keep licking my teeth all day, it's that good. Buy it immediately! More information is available at http://www.sonicare.com.

Angelika Enough with the commercial chatter! Here comes Angelika: Surely you've already heard that San Francisco was also spared from the predicted catastrophes and entered the new millennium well (including the narrators). Due to the astronomical prices everywhere and the announced crowds, Michael and I stayed at home for our traditional fondue in cozy togetherness. It was lovely! At midnight, we could watch the gigantic fireworks from our window (with the music "I Lost My Heart in San Francisco" playing in the background, of course). The whole city was glowing.

Angelika As part of one of my courses at Berkeley University, an exhibition took place again in January and February: Two of my photos were hanging on the wall. This time, they were cleverly arranged black-and-white self-portraits that showed some skin without revealing too much. I found it highly amusing, and of course, I won't spoil the fun by providing photos. That would be going too far!

Angelika Because today I particularly want to focus on political topics: The mayor of San Francisco will continue to be Willie Brown -- challenger Tom Ammiano lost the runoff election on December 14th (see November newsletter). I find that very unfortunate. I would have preferred Tom Ammiano as mayor. It's a real pity when you aren't allowed to vote yourself. That's when you realize what a privilege it is to be able to vote. I have long been in favor of allowing foreigners who live in a particular country for an extended period to vote, at least on a local level. And I don't mean this just in relation to the USA, but quite generally. I am also firmly convinced that elections in the USA would turn out completely differently if all Green Card holders (American permanent work and residence permits) were allowed to vote (just a quick reminder: even in the USA, only American citizens are allowed to vote).

Angelika Then you might have also heard in Germany that Bill Clinton gave his last State of the Union address, as his term is soon coming to an end. As mentioned above, there are presidential elections in America. This State of the Union report takes place annually and, as the name suggests, it's about the current state of America. Naturally, the President also uses the speech to present what he intends to do in the future. Clinton will soon have to step down, as a president in America can only be elected twice in a row and then has to make way for a new one. Nevertheless, he threw around reform ideas -- which means absolutely nothing, as Clinton has often been unable to implement his plans, since the American Congress is known to have a Republican majority, which has somewhat different ideas than the Democratic president.

Angelika Currently, the advertising campaign of Italian textile company Benetton is a hot topic here. Benetton is known for shocking the world with extraordinary and provocative advertising campaigns. This time, photos of death row inmates in U.S. prisons are making their way around the globe. Benetton aims to draw attention to the issue of the death penalty in the United States. The focus is not on whether the inmates might be innocent, but on the general question of whether a state has the right to use death as a form of punishment. The prosecutor's office in the state of Missouri has already filed a lawsuit against Benetton, and the American department store chain "Sears" has decided to stop offering Benetton clothing in its stores.

Angelika And then we were allowed to witness the pinnacle of tastelessness on American television. However, this will certainly not prevent German broadcasters from producing a similar show for the German market, since every American show has always been copied, no matter how bad it may be. The show was titled "Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire?" and was broadcast by the American network Fox. Fifty women competed against each other. The prize was to marry the super-rich bachelor in front of the camera. One of the rules is that none of the women are allowed to have met or even seen this potential husband beforehand. The final round is, so to speak, the highlight of the show. This is when the identity of the multi-millionaire is revealed for the first time, as he appears on stage and proposes to the woman he likes best among the finalists. And then, of course, they get married right there on the spot. It's legally binding, as the show takes place in the state of Nevada (where Las Vegas is), where such things are possible.

Angelika But now for something completely different: As we have mentioned several times, our visa expires at the end of July this year. Since we would like to stay a bit longer, we have applied for an extension, which still hasn't been processed, as the American immigration authority is not exactly the fastest. In recent weeks, everyone has been looking towards America again, as Chancellor Schröder announced plans to bring foreign computer experts to Germany. We laughed ourselves silly when suddenly the term "Green Card" was on everyone's lips in Germany. It seems to be particularly trendy to use American terms, regardless of whether they are used correctly or incorrectly.