i don't know much about life in East Germany before the wall was thrown down. But this I know I never heard a former East German complain about it out loud.

The older Germans ,I know who lived their and still live their have their own houses.

Before I got my own apartment in Germany I would stay in a hotel in what was east Germany..

Hell I never had my own house until I moved out of east Harlem as a kid. I never had a car until I moved out of east Harlem. Yet I still feel East Harlem as home not where I live now. When I go back and I go back often I always get that cool feeling about being back home. My brother does not have that feeling in the rare times when he goes back. My friend Johnny has the same feeling as I do when he goes back.

When I go back and see a black guy from Harlem. He does not seem like a stranger to me. If I ask him where does he live he says it the same way I said it as a kid. Like I live on a Hun 16 street which means 116 street.