Being a foreigner in Seoul, South Korea and McDonalds
Heading to McDonalds in Gangnam, Seoul
The best ideas in Korea are sometimes the simplest. A trip to McDonald’s and you will notice the difference from a Western McDonald’s. If you want take-away food, they will tape the top cover of the drink to secure it. It is very simple but effective. In the convenience store, (often a ‘Seven Eleven’ store as in the United States), a hot water tap and a counter-top are in the middle of the store for people who wish to eat 
noodles there and then, to use. You can buy a plastic container of noodles and you can eat it there - Plastic fork and spoon also provided - What a great idea. You can even get hot coffee in a can; the coffee kept hot in a small oven type display. The coffee does not taste very much like coffee but it is a good idea. Why these simple ideas are not available in Europe is baffling.
Let’s not be under any pretensions. Foreigners in Korea can also be a crazy and weird bunch of people as well. I am sure Koreans struggle to understand some of the things that foreigners do in Korea. I can also only begin to imagine what Koreans think when they travel to countries such as the U.S. or the UK and see the strange things that Westerners do. Seeing Western men for example, walking around topless with their beer bellies hanging out, the sun turning their skin bright red in the summer-time.
Why would Western men and women place their skin directly in front of the sun for long periods of time and why do the men sometimes walk around with no t-shirt on? Something you would never see in Seoul. Alternatively, why do Westerners walk into their own homes with their shoes on? Surely carrying the dirt and waste from the bottom of your shoes and distributing the dirt throughout the house is not a good idea.
