After last sundays‘ rainshower, we were able to see a rainbow stretching over Yorckstrasse

So, to begin with an introduction: My name is Josh, I’m from Canada, and will be blogging throughout the month of August while I study at Deutsch Akademy. I traveled to Berlin to live with my boyfriend. I brought my dog (a beautiful and loving siberian husky who will feature frequently in my posts), some books, some clothes and my computer with me. Last year I spent a few months in Berlin living with my sister, and I remember how lost I was in the language – how few words I understood. I remember a funny interaction I had with a woman on the street. She commented on my dog, saying “Das ist ein schöne Hund, aber hast sie Shrek?” My dog was indeed afraid, as sometimes she gets nervous in the night, and, I tried to agree with the woman, saying, “Ja, sie heist Shrek”. The woman looked bewildered. My sister later explained to me my mistake. I had accidentally said to the woman in response to her question – is your dog afraid? – yes, her name is afraid! To prepare for the move I spent the past nine months in Canada trying to get familiar with the German language by listening to podcasts while I walked my dog in the cold, snowy winter. It helped a lot, but I had no practice speaking! At the beginning of the summer when I returned to Germany, my language comprehension far exceeded my ability to construct my own sentences, but I know that that is a common experience for those learning a new language. Coming to Deutsch Akademy has been really helpful for me, since I am learning the rules and structure, and getting practice speaking. So, all that to say that I am really happy to be learning German, even though these errors I made when I didn’t know the language are funny in retrospect. I think the things I love about Berlin are the food, ice cream!, all the parks, and how relaxed people are (at least in the summer). Oh, and my boyfriend! I will be trying over the next month to apply for a resident’s permit to stay in Berlin for the next year, and will be writing about my experience at the Auslanderbehörde, as well as posting photos from walks in the city with my dog. I am beginning level A2.1, so I may occasionally post little things auf Deutsch, but I am probably going to make many errors – I hope readers will be forgiving!