My question for the day yesterday was "What is a turning circle?" Well, you may actually already know the answer to this, as there are some in the US; however, they are more rare than not. As a matter of fact, I cannot think of a single turning circle in all of the parts of SC I have been to except on Hilton Head Island.
Turning circles, or roundabouts, are a way to have an intersection or several intersections come together without having a traffic light to push traffic through. These types of intersections are designed for smaller roads and crossings - not the high speed routes like a major highway. Cars must slow down or stop all together to be able to enter it, depending on the traffic. In Germany, you enter on the right since cars drive on the right and exit on the right, but in England, where they drive on the left side of the road, you enter and turn to the left. Depending on how many intersections come together at the point will determine how many exits there are in the turning circle. Those exiting quickly need to stay on the outer side of the circle, but those that need to go several exits around should stay on the inside of the circle until they get close to their exit. According to Wikipedia, turning circles are safer than intersections with lights as long as you are not on a bicycle in a large turning circle.
In the US, Seattle is noted for having many of these roundabouts, with a big push to build them in the last 20 years. They are also common in many northeastern towns. In Europe, roundabouts are very common everywhere. Because many of our roads in this rural part of Germany are smaller, we have roundabouts in every town and often between towns, here. The first roundabout was constructed in Paris around a famous monument called the Arc de Triomphe in 1901. However, in England, they have become extremely common today. Roundabouts can be found in most major countries today, with many claiming to have the largest; however, one of the most complicated roundabouts is in Swindon, England. It is called the Magic Roundabout (it must be called that because it would be magic if you ever could get out of it) because it has mini roundabouts inside the outer roundabout causing traffic to flow in one direction on the outside and the opposite direction on the inside - all while drivers drive on the left side of the road (meaning you enter opposite as you would in the US). See the picture below for a glance at this complicated intersection.
The question for the day today is: How many millimeters of snow is one millimeter of rain?
The words for today are related to shapes, and of course a Roundabout: das Karussell (kah roo sell), Circle: der Kreis (krise), Square: das Quadrat (kvahd raht), Rectangle: das Viereck (feer ehk), and Triangle: das Dreieck (dry ehk). Based on the pattern and what you learned of the numbers in the past, can you guess what an Octagon would be called?
Auf Wiedersehen,
Frau Spitzer
