This past weekend I, being the nut that I am, decided to visit my friend in Thüringen, who had invited me to celebrate carnival with her. Although this is primarily celebrated in southern Germany and Köln, it is also celebrated in Eastern Germany as well. So I did spent a total of about 14 hours on trains this weekend and only about 36 hours with my friend and her family. However, it was worth it to me.
Eastern Germany is different than Western Germany, that much is clear. The gap between the two has clearly gotten smaller in the past 20 years, but some traditions remain. It was fun going to carnival, seeing the Eastern Germans celebrate such a big event, and getting to know my friend's family. The people there appear to dress a bit differently-more punk, and when talk of languages came up, it appears that everyone took Russian in school. However, they do speak German and are a part of this new, reunited Germany.
The trip gave me the desire to explore Eastern Germany further to discover more differences and similarities between it and Western Germany.
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