Michael In our ongoing series "America by the Pros," today we present: How can I get a rental car at a reasonable price? Typically, German tourists book rental cars from Germany -- and that's okay because travel agencies usually negotiate good rates. However, at the car rental counter, things take a turn: The salesperson there will try various tricks to drive up the price. And that's why today we'll take a close look at what exactly goes on here in detail.

Michael Have you ever seen that some cars have a small plastic wind deflector stuck to the frame of the front side window? According to the "Herrington Catalog," this is "typically European" and is called a "Wind-und-Stürm-Shield" (illustration 1). You can often find such absurdities because Americans think: If it has lots of umlauts, it's got to be German! And everything that comes from Germany has an unchecked quality bonus here. You wouldn't believe how proud some Americans are to drive not just a BMW or Mercedes, but even just a Volkswagen! A Jetta driver in the USA enjoys about the same reputation as an Alfa Romeo or MG driver in Germany: young, dynamic, sporty, slightly exotic.

Michael Some time ago, we flew down to San Diego for a few days. A drive on the highway down there took us past the pointy temple shown in illustration 1. We remembered our journalistic duties as newsletter reporters, took the next exit, and approached the brilliantly white structure. It turned out to be a Mormon temple, or as it is called here in the USA, the "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints." The building was surrounded by a tall white fence, but a sign invited us to a free tour of the grounds and pointed to the gate, which looked like the one at the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe. We parked, walked along the fence to the gate, where we were greeted by an older gentleman who introduced himself as "Bob" from "Utah." He said that "Sister Rebecca" would take care of us shortly, as soon as she was finished with the other group she was with. Despite Angelika's eye-rolling, I asked (but politely!) how long it would take, but was reassured that it would be soon.

Michael Whenever I work from home, I get a burrito for lunch from the Mexican eatery around the corner. The sales dialogue is always the same: "Burrito to go on a wheat flour tortilla, please. Cheese? No cheese. What kind of beans? Refried beans. What kind of meat? Steak. Anything else? Mild salsa, guacamole, sour cream, please." Translation for non-Californians: Burrito (wheat pancake roll with filling), no cheese, refried beans, shredded beef, mild salsa (tomatoes and cilantro, slightly spicy), guacamole (avocado-based paste), and sour cream. The burrito then costs about five dollars, I eat half of it, and Angelika warms up the other half in the microwave in the evening when she comes home from photography school. I've been doing this once a week for about four years now. But recently, I discovered another treat in the Mexican's refrigerated section: the "Jarritos" soda.

Michael If you can't complete a full marathon, you can also divide it into four parts and run it as a relay in America. Some colleagues at Netscape had urged me to run the last 6.9-mile leg of the Silicon Valley Marathon in San Jose. For an old marathon veteran, 11.1 kilometers are, of course, not a challenge, so I completed them in just 57 minutes. If you enlarge image 1, you can see my brutal leg muscles during the final sprint!

Angelika Currently, a campaign is sweeping across the country with the goal of attracting more tourists to America. American celebrities are promoting the beauty of the United States and hope to halt the decline in tourism following the terrorist attacks and to stimulate the sluggish economy. Traveling and shopping are now considered patriotic behaviors here in the USA! However, we are not driven by patriotic motives to explore the world -- our goal is to discover as much of California as possible while we live here. During one of our short trips in California, we visited the former gold mining town of "Bodie" recently -- a so-called ghost town.

Angelika Regarding the State of the Nation: There is currently a lot of commotion in San Francisco and its surroundings about John Walker, who has been exposed as an American Taliban fighter by the media. The 20-year-old American grew up in wealthy Marin County, the district just outside San Francisco (north of the Golden Gate Bridge), and had converted to Islam in his early teenage years. After stops in various Arab countries, he eventually ended up in Afghanistan, where he was captured by US troops in early December. Walker is suspected of having fought alongside the Taliban and Al Qaeda and is therefore charged with conspiracy and the murder of Americans, as well as aiding terrorism, which could result in a life sentence if convicted.

Angelika And yet another all-American controversy unfolded in New York last week. There was a consideration to erect a bronze statue in honor of the firefighters who perished in action after the attack on the World Trade Center. It was decided to use the three firefighters who raised a huge American flag shortly after the attack as a model for the bronze figures (including the flag). The problem was that the real three firefighters were all white. This was deemed politically incorrect, and--just like that--it was decided to depict one white, one black, and one Latino firefighter. The firefighters in New York promptly protested, arguing that this completely distorted the actual event. Others countered that it was not about depicting reality but about the symbolic content. The fact is that almost the entire corps of firefighters in New York is composed of white individuals, which is surprising given that all skin colors are represented in New York. In any case, the project was initially put on hold. The artist is now considering other design possibilities.

Angelika But now, once again, back to New York. Recently, the city erected an observation platform at the former World Trade Plaza to allow onlookers to view the destroyed area known as "Ground Zero," where the Twin Towers once stood. Due to the massive influx of visitors, they are now issuing tickets, which, it should be noted, are free of charge. Still, the question remains: is it disrespectful or pragmatic? I'll leave the answer to you.

Angelika What the "Rasterfahndung" is to the Germans, "racial profiling" is to the Americans. This term refers to singling out a person solely based on their ethnic background, skin color, or nationality. Theoretically, "racial profiling" is prohibited. Therefore, police are not allowed to identify, stop, or arrest someone simply because of their skin color. However, in practice, there are frequent reports of this happening, particularly to young black men. "Racial profiling" has become a hot topic again since Attorney General Ashcroft ordered 5,000 foreigners, who are in the U.S. on tourist, business, or student visas, to be questioned in connection with the terrorist attacks. These individuals are primarily men between the ages of 18 and 33 from the Middle East. Although Ashcroft preemptively emphasized that those interviews are voluntary and that those men are not considered suspects, this is precisely what makes it "racial profiling," as nationality alone determines who was invited for the interview. Criticism of this approach came from an unusual source. The police chief of Portland, Oregon, refused to locate 200 men in his area who were to be questioned, as he believed the ordered interviews did not comply with his state's laws. In Oregon, police are prohibited from questioning a person about their political or religious views unless the person is suspected of a crime and the questions could help solve it. However, the catalogue of standardized interview questions aimed to investigate political and religious standpoints. Among other things, Ashcroft expects information on how the person felt when they heard about the September 11 attacks and whether they sympathized with the hijackers. Another question aims to find out which cities and landmarks those individuals had visited in the U.S. How one could infer potential terrorism from this answer is a mystery to me. After all, anyone who visited New York, for example, also went to the observation deck of the World Trade Center. Incidentally, the police chief of San Francisco also refused to assist with the interviews.

Angelika Now, to a completely non-political yet extraordinary event: It snowed today (January 28th) south and north of San Francisco. However, San Francisco itself was spared from the white wonder. Since snowfall only occurs in this region once every few decades, everyone was thrilled. Even the local news anchors and weather experts had a childlike gleam in their eyes. For many children, it was the first snow they had ever seen. In Petaluma (located north of San Francisco), they happily built snowmen, and in many areas, schools were closed due to the snow. What a joyful day.