• I'm from Colorado and moved to Berlin but never felt accepted until after 7 years of living there.
• Despite trying to be friendly and smile at strangers, I would usually get weird looks and scoffs.
• Everything changed after I got my adorable wire-haired dachshund, Toby.

Seven years after moving from the US to Berlin, I was added to my first German WhatsApp group with the dog owners in my neighborhood. It felt like a miracle.

Up to that point, I always had passive interactions with other Germans. It became a game to get people — like the barista at my coffee shop or my grocery cashier — to smile at me. I had about a 30% success rate, a lot of strange looks, and the occasional scoff.

Where I'm from — Longmont, Colorado — I would smile at random people on the street and they'd smile back. I now realize that smiling at strangers isn't part of the culture in this city.

At the time, though, I was simply living my life in my bubble of international expat friends without fully integrating into German society. Not because I didn't want to but because it felt inaccessible like there was a wall that I couldn't penetrate.

All that changed after Toby, my beloved wire-haired dachshund.

I first visited Berlin in 2015 after graduating from college

When I first visited Berlin, I was instantly enamored with the city's vibrant energy, which was so different from the foothills of Longmont, Colorado, where I grew up.

So in January 2018, I took the leap and moved to Berlin. Soon after, I found my now-husband. We fell in love not only with each other but also with the city.

Early on, we spent every weekend discovering WWII bunkers, eating Turkish döner, and singing Karaoke in the park on warm summer days.

The honeymoon phase didn't last, though.

When my Schengen 90-day visa was about to expire, I sought a long-term, freelance visa

My first experience trying to get my long-term freelance visa in the registration office was being yelled at by a government worker — others soon followed.

"Kein English! Nein!" (You don't speak English! No!) Several government workers shouted at me, shooing me out of their offices.

After a particularly traumatic appointment, I severely doubted if I'd made the right choice to move here.

I messaged a friend for advice and received the tough love I needed. "If you don't really want this, then leave. But you'll never know how your life could turn out if you don't at least try," they said.

Four intense weeks later — after accumulating enough paperwork to fill an entire binder, being ghosted by my accountant, and storming into his office — I was granted my long-term visa.

Sadly, the struggles didn't end there.

Soon after, I had an encounter that permanently changed me

One day, I was at a bar and overheard a group next to me bashing Americans, talking about how dumb and ear-piercingly loud they were.

I didn't feel like their comments were directed at me, specifically, but their very expressive disdain for American culture prompted me to chime in.

Feeling self-conscious, I tried to tell them this was just culture and that every culture has its quirks. I couldn't change their minds, though, and quickly learned these were not the type of people I wanted to hang around with.

To this day, I can't deny that the interaction affected me. My husband still catches me whispering when I'm in public places because I'm afraid of being considered too loud.

These experiences with the visa registration office, group in the bar, and unsmiling locals were unsettling and left me feeling like an outsider for years. Then, Toby came along.

It was like the whole world suddenly opened up to me

We got Toby in 2023 when he was 15 weeks old and not potty-trained. We spent hours trekking up and down our fifth-floor walk-up trying to teach him where — and where not — to go to the bathroom.

I never expected that — after being in this international bubble for so many years — getting a puppy, specifically a dachshund, would change this dynamic. Turns out, Germans love dachshunds.

As soon as Toby hit the streets, the amount of smiles went from 30% to 80%. From our grumpy downstairs neighbor to the grandma and her grandchild across the street, we were met with curiosity and excitement.

Moving to Berlin hasn't been easy. I've faced challenges, loneliness, and moments of doubt. However, I'm happier living here than I ever was living in the US.

Plus, I've built a life full of incredible memories and am blessed to experience a culture so different from my own. I wouldn't trade it for the world.