Starbucks/Kryptonite... Same Dif

They have a Starbucks here, as well as a McDonald's and Burger King. I don't like going to foreign countries and eating at places that I would settle for in the States. If you've had the privilege to travel to foreign countries with me, you will know that I will refuse to go to these places. My mom and aunt had to almost literally pull me kicking and screaming into a McDonald's in Stockholm so they could get Pepsi and cookies. (Hah! Ratted you out for that one!)

But you see, shamefully I admit I have a vice. I adore Starbucks. I can't help it. I can pretend it's coffee when really it's just a sugary treat. I like the atmosphere of a Starbucks, with its fake fireplaces and comfy chairs and windows looking out onto busy streets. Knowing this about myself, I refused to go in, knowing that once I went in, I was never coming out. Well, after the Festival Extravaganza (no, I still haven't found out its true name), it was a bit chilly and I knew a coffee would be oh-so-good, so I went in. And it was everything I thought it would be. The other side of this is that I love caramel. You put caramel and coffee together and I'm in frickin' heaven. I wanted to say no, but I couldn't. Please... could you?

Liar.

See, one of the nice things about Americanization is that in a place where every single thing is brand new to me, I can go in one place where it isn't. I went in there and sat down and felt like I was in familiar territory. So was it stupid to pay for a five dollar cup of coffee? Yes. Is it even slightly ignorant for me to refer to it as coffee? Yes. Does it most likely have the caloric content of a Thanksgiving meal? Yes. But for one second could I be in a place where I wasn't the inexperienced, new kid looking around for some semblance of familiarity? Yes. And for that, dear friends, I will adore Starbucks and all the evils it represents.