Angelika: For a long time, we wanted to pay a visit to our Canadian neighbors in the far north. In April, it finally happened. We boarded a plane and headed to Vancouver, Canada, as so many people had praised this city to the skies. Canada is often lumped together with the USA, which understandably annoys Canadians. It's true that many things are similar: for example, we were surprised that the English in Vancouver sounded just like it does in California--our ears couldn't detect a Canadian accent.

Michael: When a corporation advertises in a city like San Francisco, it must be careful to treat all population groups equally. In this diverse city, 44% of the population is White, 31% Asian, 14% Latino, and 8% Black (source: sfgov.org ), it would be unrealistic to show only white models on an advertisement for underwear, for example. In illustration 1, you can see that the cover of a coupon booklet that arrived in the mail represents pretty much all the significant population groups: The cuddling couple on the left is black, the man with the foaming toothbrush is white, the grandpa with the bicycle is white and old, the mom in white in the middle is obviously working (due to the white clothing, obviously a doctor), the lady with the baby in the middle right is Asian, and the beaming family at the bottom left are Latinos. The sports catalog in illustration 2 also reflects all the significant population groups.

About the concert of the group Kraftwerk at the Warfield Theater in San Francisco last year, I had briefly reported in Rundbrief 05/2004 . Recently, the double CD "Maximum-Minimum" was released, featuring recordings from various stops on the tour. Let me tell you, when I heard it for the first time, I was at work at Yahoo! listening with headphones, and during the first song "Mensch-Maschine," I got a pleasant chill down my arms, and my cubicle colleagues must have wondered why I suddenly started breathing so heavily. Man, it brought back memories of that fantastic concert. Highly recommended!

Angelika: People are known to like abbreviating or shortening long terms. The name of our city "San Francisco" is a particularly popular target for this: you often hear it referred to as S.F., San Fran, or Frisco.

Michael: In the USA, there is no TÜV (the German Technical Car Inspection Association). You can really drive around in the most rusted-out junk car. As long as the fenders don't fly off on the highway, it's okay. The TV show "Pimp My Ride" with host Xzibit, which is also a big success in Germany, shows how to turn a falling-apart car into a good-looking ride.

It often happens that you buy something with the price tag still attached. These small, pesky, cheap stickers are incredibly stubborn! Woe betide if you only tear off the surface of the label, because then the sticky residue won't come off ever, no matter how hard you try. Most of the time, you end up fiddling around for hours, treating the residue with foul-smelling substances like gasoline or turpentine, rubbing your thumb raw, and possibly even removing parts of the purchased product. Plastic, in particular, can quickly become dull doing this. But it doesn't have to be that way, because there's "Goo Gone," which removes everything powerfully and gently.

Angelika: You already know it: The neighborhood we live in is called Noe Valley and it has become one of the most popular residential areas in San Francisco. And although we have mentioned it in one of our newsletters from time to time and every somewhat better travel guide now lists it as worth seeing, we want to share a few things with you that hopefully aren't in the "Lonely Planet" yet.