I’ve lived in Munich, Germany for over five years. And I must say, it is a privilege to be able to live in Germany, and Munich is one of the nicest, most livable places on Earth.

But for some reason, living in a foreign country triggers the odd feeling of patriotism from time to time. Lots of ex-pats have told me that they have the same feelings. It’s probably just some form of home-sickness.

Each day, i head down into the local underground station, and for years, the beckoning “U” and “S” touched off this patriotism. The “U” stands for “U-bahn”, which is the underground train, or subway. The “S” stands for “S-Bahn”, which are the German commuter trains.

But to me, the U and S just reminded me that I’m an American. The Star Spangled Banner would replay in my head. 4th of July fireworks would burst before my eyes. I’d count the days until Dubbya would be out of office, and then I would think; “There’s some sort of ex-pat joke in here somewhere!”

This is what drove me nuts all those years:

I needed an “A” to complete the joke. Something to do with the train system? Something to do with transportation? Aha! The Autobahn…

And that’s where the idea for the USA Bahn logo came from. The German version looks like this:

And for those who live in Austria, it’s slightly different:

I’ve created products such as t-shirts, notebooks and mousepads with the USA Bahn logo on them. It’s fun to wear them around town, and see the response. Americans think it’s cool. Lots of Germans figure it out, but some ask if I work for the transportation department. Sigh.

So whether you live in Germany or Austria, or have visited these countries, or want to visit, or have studied German at school, you might be interested in wearing the USA Bahn design.

You can get it by following these links:

• USA Bahn Germany Design

• USA Bahn Austria Design