our branded world

american companies with a store that i could very likely see while walking down a street in edinburgh:

-burger king
-mcdonalds
-starbucks (duh)
-subway
-domino's
-papa john's
-pizza hut
-kfc (people LOVE it here and no one cares in the u.s. that i can see)
-gap
-blockbuster
-ben & jerry's
-salvation army
-goodwill, except here it is a chinese restaurant, not a charity organization. sooo i guess that doesn't count.

which of these places i've actually been to since coming here:
-gap (which is sooo much more expensive and trendy-looking here)
-starbucks

i am pretty proud of that effort, i must say. so far i think borders/barnes and noble have equivalents in uk bookstores waterstones and blackwells, not sure which for which though, and starbucks has an equivalent in caffe nero (italian coffee, they say). it's interesting to wonder what locals here think about this permeating americanness in consumerism.

p.s. it's official as of today: i am going to prague on my fall break! with the aforementioned josh and with toby, another american who is from seattle/whitman college in washington, an institution no one else besides me has heard of because my sister was a creative college applicant and really wanted to go there for a hot minute. anyway, i'm excited, and i've already successfully asked off work. meanwhile, to keep making money so i can keep doing these crazy opportunistic things. i'm off to read and then to dine in african cuisine with spanish company. oh, europe.