United States
American Food Culture
By Thomas on October 14, 2009 | 1 Comment »
I can’t tell you how often I’ve heard that Americans have no food culture. Apparently, the whole nation lives on hamburgers and doughnuts. But it’s SO not true. They also eat microwave dinners and frozen pizzas. 
Clearly, we Germans are so much more sophisticated with our sauerkraut, bratwurst and “real” black forest cakes. It should be obvious that our culinary preconceptions of other countries are almost always wrong, and they are especially wrong when it comes to food in the United States.
What exactly is American food? Well, it’s like asking » Continue reading this post »
Frank Gehry’s Disney Theater
By Tony on October 12, 2009 | No Comments »
On our way back to San Diego, we couldn’t possibly pass up the opportunity to visit the incredible Disney Theater located in downtown Los Angeles. Don’t be fooled by the name, this phenomenal construction, designed by Frank Gehry, just might be reason for Los Angeles haters everywhere to give the city a second chance.
But visitors beware » Continue reading this post »
Bumper Sticker Culture War
By Thomas on October 10, 2009 | No Comments »
America is a land of extremes, from gigantic drinks to enormous cars to super-sized opinions. The latter is especially true when it comes to politics. All Americans have something to say about the wars, gay marriage, the Bush years, or the place of religion in American lives. Needless to say, where car culture meets uncompromising beliefs, opinions are expressed in the form of bumper stickers.
Coming from northern California, we spent an hour in Los Angeles traffic staring at the cars in front of us. Bored and stranded in a sea of bumpers, I started to notice the endless opinions rolling by in the form of politically charged bumper stickers. It’s kind of fun to look at people and know immediately what they think. But it’s surprising how many times the face didn’t match the message. Looks can be deceiving. You suddenly realize that the sweet little grandma wouldn’t hesitate to burn America’s gays at the stake, or that the stern-looking business man would love to join a march on Washington to end the wars.
People feel safe voicing their opinions while sitting in their little shells on wheels – BUT with such liberal gun laws in America, I sometimes wonder…
California Coastal Wildlife
By Thomas on October 5, 2009 | No Comments »
The California coastline along Highway 1 boasts many natural attractions, above all the amazing animal life. On our trip from Monterey down to San Diego, we spotted sea otters, harbor seals, sea lions, pelicans, cormorants, seagulls, ground squirrels, hummingbirds, and northern elephant seals – just to name a few. “Anything to get excited over?” a Californian might ask. For a local, these are just common animals. But for a German, these are creatures you never get to see outside a zoo – except in California.
I was thrilled to see the California sea otters and the northern elephant seals in the wild. They are not common in Southern California where I used to live, so this trip up north provided a whole new wildlife experience. The sightings were especially meaningful knowing the animals’ sad history. » Continue reading this post »
California’s Highway 1
By Tony on October 1, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Thomas had never been down Highway 1, so returning from northern California, we decided to follow the coast. Along the way, we stopped at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, one of the parks rumored to be closing due to budget cuts.
As you can see from the picture of the park’s stunning beach above, that would have been a complete » Continue reading this post »
