Unofficial American Embassy

What is the unofficial American embassy? What is the symbol of America that you have find in nearly every country in the world? Where would I go if I were stranded with no money and felt homesick? What place has a location on every habitable continent in all developed or developing countries? McDonald's. Not to eat there, of course, I stopped eating fast food years ago, but the comforting roof of the golden arches is like being back home in America, or at least, the closest thing you can get if you can't cook up your own comfort foods. I go there just for the WiFi sometimes, since there's a McDonald's just a 5-minute walk from my apartment here in Strasbourg. All McDonald's in France seem to offer free WiFi, which is nice.
I go because I can't study in my room and the library is sometimes too stiff. Cafés are nice, but I don't want to pay 3€ for a coffee and stay for a few hours and try to avoid the waitstaff's scrutinizing glares. McDonald's staff doesn't seem to care whether I buy something or not, so I usually go upstairs, find a quiet corner by the window, read, study, and whatnot when I feel I need to get away from my apartment or the library. And if I do have to buy something someday, a coffee would be just 1€, compared to the 3+€ coffees offered by other places.

French people do seem to eat there. The place gets rather crowded during lunch and dinner hours. It's especially busy on Sundays since most other stores close here in France while McDonald's, keeping up the American tradition, stays open 7 days a week, though here in Strasbourg, there are no 24-hour McDonald's. The latest one stays open until 11p.m., though.
Going off on a tangent, this map shows you basically where all the people live in the contiguous U.S. The more McDonald's there are, the brighter the concentration of lit areas, meaning there are more people there. The Western half of the Midwest and the Southwest are quite clearly sparsely populated, noting the lack of McDonald's =)

Today's Random Picture:
Apparently, McDonald's isn't doing so well in New Zealand and so, this is a promotional tray liner, with a fry shaped like the New Zealand archipelago.