I have talked about my dog before, but this post is dedicated to my experience in this beautiful city with my beautiful dog.

As many people will tell you, Berlin is a wonderful place to have a dog. The local dogs are impeccably behaved, and I often see dogs running beside someone on a bike, or riding the metro without any leash. This is remarkable to me.

The best things about having a dog in Berlin is how accustomed people are to seeing dogs in the city and how accommodating most establishments are to dog-companions. I can usually sit in a bar or a restaurant with my dog – something that would be unheard of in Canada. And, best of all, I can travel with her on the metro and the train. All of this makes my life – and hers – so much easier!

As well, there are so many green spaces, parks, fields, forests, and even lakes that I can access by bahn. I know for certain that my dog is happier in Berlin (because she gets to spend more time with me), and I am happier in Berlin because I don’t have to leave my dog outside or at home when I am doing things away from home.

My dog’s favourite excursion is the dog beach -there is a dog beach here!- near Grünewald. We have been several times this summer, and it’s so much fun watching all the dogs make a beeline for the water as soon as they are let off their leads. My dog too heads straight for the lake to stand in the water and cool off. Then she runs around after the other dogs until she has burned off some energy. It is guaranteed to tire her out and bring home enough dirt that will be vacuuming for the next couple days.

Another favourite of hers is a place near Schloss Bellevue, on the Spree, where there are some steps down into the water. There is a platform just below the steps submerged beneath the water where my dog likes to go to cool off on hot days. She will just climb down the stairs until she is in the water up to her hips, and then stand there in the cold water. We will just watch the tourist boats go by for a few minutes, until she is ready to go. Then we walk back through the Tiergarten, where she tries to hunt all the bunnies and maulworfen (she hasn’t caught any).

Last night I went to the Kino Internationale to see a film with my boyfriend. This was the second time this month that we went to the cinema. Coincidentally, both of these films were in French with German untertiteln. The first was Monsieur Claude et seine Tochter, which was really well-written, funny, and smart. The second was by Xavier Dolan, a Montreal-based Canadian director and actor, called Sag nicht, wer du bist, and was a dark Thriller set in a small town in Quebec. Even though I am extremely picky, and couldn’t understand all the dialogue, I highly recommend both films.

I am not yet at the point where I can watch films in German and actually understand what’s being said. I can usually figure out what’s going on from intonation, various words that I recognize, and the actors‘ expressions, but it is not an immersive experience, and is quite difficult. My boyfriend, whose English is a good deal better than my German, doesn’t always feel like watching a movie in English. So we have to compromise. Somehow that compromise resulted in us watching two films in French in a row…

Now my French is significantly better than my German, but it is still not perfect. In the past when I watched films in French, I relied on English subtitles to carry me through the parts I couldn’t quite catch. No such luck when the subtitles are in German! Watching a movie in two simultaneously second (and third) languages made some entirely new geography in my brain, I am sure! I felt so completely exhausted after the experience! However, there were also moments when I achieved a strange transparency – where the otherness of the language disintegrated and I could immediately understand what was being said – whether this occurred by listening to the French or by reading the German I can’t be sure, but I recall it feeling momentarily easy.