I'm a simple emigrant and this year I participated in a parade

As soon as Christmas and New Year are over in Germany, they immediately start preparing for the “fifth season” – the Fasching carnival. In the past I only watched, but this year I had the honor of being part of the parade myself! At the end of January a friend spontaneously suggested we join their group, I naturally agreed instantly. We registered for the carnival in a small town in Bavaria, Dietfurt, where they always participate. This can be done by any group of people completely free; you don’t have to be part of a company or a club. We were also given free passes to carnival restaurants and clubs and a 10-euro coupon for each of us. The conditions, if anything, vary for different groups and cities. At that period I already had a ton of other plans, so my friend instantly ordered for me everything I needed for the costume. I waited for everything to arrive and, literally, a couple of days before the carnival I was up crafting my costume until night. The result: three small burns from the glue gun, and minus €100, but a ton of compliments. The girls say that with the advent of Shein and other Chinese shops, the total cost of a women's costume has at least somewhat decreased; previously it could easily be 150–200 euros. And that’s only the costume! Also each of us bought three bags of sweets to throw to the spectators, alcohol for ourselves and to distribute to older spectators, and cash for food and drinks on the day of the festival. In general, the cost of participation is about like a weekend trip. But it’s definitely worth it! For fairness, the organizers shuffle participants every year so that in one year you go closer to the beginning, in another – to the end. This year, probably because I joined, we hit the jackpot: awful weather and 43rd place out of 50. As you can imagine, there was no way to wear jackets. We wore four layers of clothing under the costume and hoped we wouldn’t freeze. My friend’s mom wrote their home address on a sticker and forced each of us to stick it somewhere on ourselves in case we all get lost and end up drunk. She says: “you’ll just hail a taxi and show him the sticker.” My attempts to convince them that this wouldn’t happen didn’t work. So the sticker is now with me forever; we laughed and thanked her—mom is mom, what can you say. ❤️ Unlike Frankfurt, in Dietfurt there wasn’t a single group with a political agenda, just various beautiful costumes. But just as here, mostly everyone is happy: I never felt that anyone was forced to participate under duress. On the contrary, it felt like that’s exactly what they were waiting for! While we were waiting in line, a light rain and wind started, we all got fairly chilly, but as soon as we finally went, it warmed up again and became pleasant from the happy faces of people, especially the children. The girls already decided that I’ll be in the carnival group forever, and I myself really liked it. And overall, as an immigrant, I feel I’ve reached the hundredth level of integration. By the way, in Frankfurt the carnival parade will start in three hours, so run to get ready! Last year here it was like this and like this. Helau to all! #emigrant_happiness #holidays #useful