How might the living in western europe have been different from living in eastern europe during the middle ages

A general characteristic of the high and late middle ages was that the population density was quite low. This had the effect of making Eastern Europe a little more rural in character than Western Europe and somewhat poorer.

This had the effect of making Eastern Europe a little more rural in character than Western Europe and somewhat poorer.

The Christian faith (Both in Catholic and Orthodox forms) was introduced to the area east of the Elbe during the Early and High Middle ages. The last group of people to be converted were the Baltic tribes.

From 1260 the Teutonic order moved in and converted them. I believe the Prussians had a population not much above 100.000 which shows just how empty the place was. Judging from early sieges they had never seen a stone building before either as they tried to pull walls down with grappling hooks not knowing mortar kept the stones together.

Even after the introduction of masonry cities kept being built almost entirely out of wood due to the abundance of it.

According to some this expansion of the Teutonic order was part of a broader migration of German speaking people to Eastern Europe - the so called Ostsiedlung. Now depending on whom you ask they may or may not have been actual Germans but what happened is clear enough. Urban development spread and so did new technology.

In terms of influences Eastern Europe was a mixture of native, German and eastern (steppe) culture. Russian warrior aristocracy mounted and armed with bow (and lance) while Poland was closer to Germany and had mounted Knights.

I am sorry if this is not really a coherent answer but it’s a little difficult for me to paint you a picture of how Eastern Europe differed from South and Western Europe. Eastern Europe had a distinct culture but was also influenced a lot by others. I’d say most of the Middle Ages consisted of catching up to Southern and Western Europe, outside of a few core urbanized regions development lagged behind.
Hope this helped!

B. hunting and gathering