Strange usage of に particle


I saw an advertisement on the train that said 世界に友達を作りたい... My Japanese friend
said that the difference with "世界で友達を作りたい" is that で means like "In the world"
whilst に means "all over the world".

I get that に is sort of like a means of highlighting the way, direction,
actors and all that sort of indirect information of an action, and not
necessarily "to" as beginners are taught. So does that mean more like "the
world" is the place of the action, but the action is moving throughout it and
not restricted to on definite point like で would be?

SUMMARY: What is the nuance of the particle に here and are there any other
examples of such usage of に? I've heard Xにあふれる which is sort of like it I
feel.




世界に友達を作りたい sounds to me like "I want friends in the world" (so the friends are
in the world and you could make these friends through the Internet; the result
of the action would be "I have friends in the world").  
世界で友達を作りたい sounds to me like you'd go to the world and make friends there.
(The 世界で modifies the action 友達を作る, so you'd do this action in the 世界, not
online.)  
(I would say 世界 **中** に友達を作りたい/世界 **中** で友達を作りたい to mean "all over the world")

Maaybe this is because... ~~に is used with the verbs like いる、ある、存在する、住む (to
be, to exist, to live), while ~~で is used with action verbs? So I think the
世界に indicates where these 友達 will be, and the 世界で indicates where the action
作る will take place.

世界に料理を食べたい sounds incorrect. 世界(中)で料理を食べたい (I want to eat dishes in the world
/ all over the world) is grammatically okay and would mean you'd go to the
world and eat the dishes there. (And 世界(中) **の** 料理を食べたい would mean you want
to try dishes from around the world, not necessarily by going there so you
could do this in foreign food restaurants in your country).

I think 大学に友達を作りたい is grammatically alright and would mean like you want
friends who are in college.

世界で友達を作りたい sounds perfectly alright to me.

* * *

"a few more examples" >>> How about...

> [財界]{ざいかい} / [政界]{せいかい} / [業界]{ぎょうかい} **に** (notで)コネを作る -- to have
> connections in the financial / political / business world  
>  自分の部屋 **に** (notで)テレビが欲しい。-- I want a TV in my room.  
>  Compare: 秋葉原 **で** (notに)テレビを買いたい。-- I want to buy a TV in Akihabara.  
>




世界に友達を作りたい sounds to me like "I want friends in the world" (so the friends are
in the world and you could make these friends through the Internet; the result
of the action would be "I have friends in the world").  
世界で友達を作りたい sounds to me like you'd go to the world and make friends there.
(The 世界で modifies the action 友達を作る, so you'd do this action in the 世界, not
online.)  
(I would say 世界 **中** に友達を作りたい/世界 **中** で友達を作りたい to mean "all over the world")

Maaybe this is because... ~~に is used with the verbs like いる、ある、存在する、住む (to
be, to exist, to live), while ~~で is used with action verbs? So I think the
世界に indicates where these 友達 will be, and the 世界で indicates where the action
作る will take place.

世界に料理を食べたい sounds incorrect. 世界(中)で料理を食べたい (I want to eat dishes in the world
/ all over the world) is grammatically okay and would mean you'd go to the
world and eat the dishes there. (And 世界(中) **の** 料理を食べたい would mean you want
to try dishes from around the world, not necessarily by going there so you
could do this in foreign food restaurants in your country).

I think 大学に友達を作りたい is grammatically alright and would mean like you want
friends who are in college.

世界で友達を作りたい sounds perfectly alright to me.

* * *

"a few more examples" >>> How about...

> [財界]{ざいかい} / [政界]{せいかい} / [業界]{ぎょうかい} **に** (notで)コネを作る -- to have
> connections in the financial / political / business world  
>  自分の部屋 **に** (notで)テレビが欲しい。-- I want a TV in my room.  
>  Compare: 秋葉原 **で** (notに)テレビを買いたい。-- I want to buy a TV in Akihabara.  
>

