Michael Why do we pay $60 a month for phone and internet in America, have to shell out $2.50 per minute for calls to Germany if we forget to enter a special number or sign up for a special plan, and pay an additional $60 for cable with premium channels? In European countries, a comparable package costs about a third of that.

Angelika The American Thanksgiving is an extremely pleasant holiday for us because we have no obligations or customs to follow. Instead, we can simply enjoy the days off that the holiday at the end of November gives us ( Rundbrief 11/2001 ). Thanksgiving is really a big deal in the USA. Everyone visits family, so car and air traffic is heavier than at Christmas.

Michael Three years ago, I had reported on the DVD rental service Netflix ( Rundbrief 02/2007 ), which allows us to watch movies without paying exorbitant fees for terrible, advertisement-filled cable channels. Even back then, Netflix offered part of its DVD collection online, but you had to use a computer for that. Years ago, I predicted that this service would really take off if it ran directly on the TV and not on an extra computer, and lo and behold, Netflix listened to me and has been working for some time with various gadget manufacturers to bring Internet Netflix to the TV screen.

Michael Our old tube TV had to go, and since a sticker on our trash can mentioned the free service Recycle my junk , I called them. The friendly lady on the other end of the line confirmed that she would be happy to pick up my old TV set, and we arranged an appointment for the following week, as that was the first available appointment.

Angelika In the last newsletter, I had reported on the upcoming congressional elections ( Rundbrief 10/2010 ) and by now the results are almost old news. As expected, the Democrats lost their majority in the House of Representatives and were only able to maintain their majority in the Senate by a very narrow margin. Obama is already feeling the consequences, as Congress just extended the tax breaks introduced by Bush, including for the super-rich, which Obama would have liked to prevent.

Michael Recently, early in the morning, informants told me that I had landed on the front page of the Silicon Valley newspaper "San Jose Mercury News." As it turned out, however, it wasn't because I had finally sold a startup for a few billion to a corporation, but rather as part of an article on commuters from San Francisco to Silicon Valley" and the private shuttle buses of large software companies that offer this service for free. Of course, this is old news for loyal newsletter readers who have known about this program since 2007 ( Rundbrief 04/2007 ), but still, that article made my day!

Michael In Germany, special offers and discount points are more the domain of older people and penny-pinchers who search for savings and thrift tips on sites like geizhals.de . In America, however, you can also see well-earning people at the checkout handling coupons, which the cashier then scans. If the coupon is valid, the register immediately deducts the discount amount.

Angelika I know absolutely nothing about baseball. I have never watched a game on TV or in a stadium. At work, I once looked after a five-year-old baseball fan who couldn't believe it. Of course, I do know that you need a baseball bat and the corresponding ball to play, that there is a pitcher and a catcher, and that the players try to reach certain platforms ("bases"), but that's about it. I also know that the San Francisco Giants are our city team.

Michael Whether on salad, in the pan, or on grilled food: olive oil gives dishes a special touch. However, it's important to apply it evenly and thinly, as no one wants to consume oily calorie bombs later. I recently found the solution at the store Bed Bath & Beyond: a spray can called "Misto," into which you pour oil, then use a nozzle to manually pump in air pressure, and subsequently produce a fine mist at the push of a button that applies the olive oil in a thin layer on food.

Angelika The other day I wanted to take the J streetcar home from the Powell Station downtown. While underground, I was digging through all my loose change to toss it into the fare gate slot for access to the tracks. A friendly passerby pointed out, however, that the gates no longer accept coins. I must have looked pretty bewildered, because for years and years that had been our favorite way to get rid of annoying loose change—including pennies ( Rundbrief 12/2005 ).

Michael In the realm of baked goods, America has completely lost touch with Europe sometime in the middle of the last century. Instead of normal oven-baked loaves, they switched to machine-produced "Wonderbread," a rubbery type of toastable bread. This unfortunate trend also made its way into the realm of rolls, and even if you find a pretzel at a fair, its "crust" is rubbery soft. When an American chews on German bread or rolls, they start to complain because the hard crust assaults their softened gums in an unfamiliar way.

Michael As my preferred reading material for bed and bath, I have been reading the Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin, which comes with the Friday edition, for decades. With a few exceptions, such as the perpetually boring Georg Diez, almost only top journalists write for this extremely entertaining color printed supplement to the newspaper. The selection of topics continually amazes even the newsletter editorial team, which is not exactly lacking in astonishing topic ideas.

Angelika Some time ago, Michael mentioned some interesting and funny websites where Americans living in Germany talk about one or another amazing phenomenon in everyday German life ( Rundbrief 09/2008 ).