Semester at
Sea Fall
2006 Voyage 
TABLE
OF CONTENTS
- Home Page
- My bio
- "Crossing the Globe" Comparative Migration Project
- Incoming
- From Hong Kong to Beijing
- India is not only the Taj
Mahal
- Mac-ing
it!!!
- Where religion takes you
- Colombians in Spain
- Open Letter
Project 4 -- Mac-ing it!!!
By Margarita I. Gotay
Traveling the world going to countries where food is totally different
from Puerto Rican food is hard when you are a ridiculous picky eater
like me. In Chapter 1, of the Stephen Castles and Mark J. Miller book,
The Age of Migration, the authors discus how globalization has
intensified after the mid 1970s and has had an impact on migration of
people and industries. Among the most obvious signs of migration on our
voyage around the world are food chains and soda companies.
Finding familiar fast food places in the most remote outlets was definitely a shocker during this trip. French fries were my saviors, they are international now, and many restaurants have them in their menu. I haven’t been more excited about seeing Mac Donald’s in my entire life since I was a little kid and wanted my happy meals. Even in front of the Pyramids of Giza there stood a two-story building housing KFC and Pizza Hut. Myanmar was the only place I didn’t see any fast food chains, but I saw some fast food stores that tried to imitate and resemble Mac Donald’s naming there Mac Burger or Mac King.
Mac Donald’s, American fast food chain that started in Illinois, has moved all over Asia, Europe, Africa (Egypt), Turkey, Croatia, South America, the Caribbean and who knows where it will go next. This company has a strong international marketing strategy and has unique American combos that incorporate a little flavor of whatever country it is located in like the Mac Arabians in Egypt, Mac Turkish in Turkey, etc.
Food that I liked back home, like Chinese food, has a different taste and preparation process in China. Coca Cola has a different flavor in different regions or countries to satisfy the palate of the people in that country or region. I even saw aluminum packages of Coca Cola in Kobe where they had aluminum bottles, whereas in Croatia the coke can was more narrow and tall like Red Bull cans, other countries had crystal bottles or regular cans but with different sealers.
Corporate Industries are finding ways to spread the market and eliminate trade barriers between countries. As a consequence products and industries are migrating, connecting the world and making it seem smaller. Whether this sort of globalization is good or not is a judgment that everyone has to make on his or her own. For me spotting these fast food chains after being a sea for a couple of days without food that is seasoned like Puerto Rican was really soothing. It was here when I learned to like Mac Donald’s slogan: “I’m loving it.
Finding familiar fast food places in the most remote outlets was definitely a shocker during this trip. French fries were my saviors, they are international now, and many restaurants have them in their menu. I haven’t been more excited about seeing Mac Donald’s in my entire life since I was a little kid and wanted my happy meals. Even in front of the Pyramids of Giza there stood a two-story building housing KFC and Pizza Hut. Myanmar was the only place I didn’t see any fast food chains, but I saw some fast food stores that tried to imitate and resemble Mac Donald’s naming there Mac Burger or Mac King.
Mac Donald’s, American fast food chain that started in Illinois, has moved all over Asia, Europe, Africa (Egypt), Turkey, Croatia, South America, the Caribbean and who knows where it will go next. This company has a strong international marketing strategy and has unique American combos that incorporate a little flavor of whatever country it is located in like the Mac Arabians in Egypt, Mac Turkish in Turkey, etc.
Food that I liked back home, like Chinese food, has a different taste and preparation process in China. Coca Cola has a different flavor in different regions or countries to satisfy the palate of the people in that country or region. I even saw aluminum packages of Coca Cola in Kobe where they had aluminum bottles, whereas in Croatia the coke can was more narrow and tall like Red Bull cans, other countries had crystal bottles or regular cans but with different sealers.
Corporate Industries are finding ways to spread the market and eliminate trade barriers between countries. As a consequence products and industries are migrating, connecting the world and making it seem smaller. Whether this sort of globalization is good or not is a judgment that everyone has to make on his or her own. For me spotting these fast food chains after being a sea for a couple of days without food that is seasoned like Puerto Rican was really soothing. It was here when I learned to like Mac Donald’s slogan: “I’m loving it.