친구를 만나러 왔어 : I came/am here in order to meet my friend. 친구를 만나서 왔어 : I came/am here because I met my friend. (only makes sense in a particular context.) I think what confuses you here may be "~해서" which can mean "because". As you know, "in order to" and "because" are different.

~(으)러 can only be used with movement verbs like 가다 and 오다, to indicate the purpose of going to a place. -밥을 먹으러 가요. I go in order to eat. -책을 사러 서점에가요. I go to the book store in order to buy a book. #Your sentence "친구를 만나러 왔어." is correct. ~아/어서 means because/therefore. It also functions to connect two closely related events together into a sequence. Not necessary to use it only with 가다/오다. -배가 고파서 밥을 먹어요. I'm hungry, therefore, I eat. *Reason -서점에 가서 책을 사요. I go to the book store and buy a book. *Sequence #Your sentence "친구를 만나서 왔어" is slightly incomplete as it could be:- -여기 와서 친구를 만났어. I came here and met my friend. *Reason/Statement as I do not know whether they met by chance or as planned. -친구를 만나서 같이 우리집에 왔어. I met with my friend and came home together. *Sequence Hope my explanations help~ ^^

Hi, I`m not good at English... so I will answer you, briefly. 친구를 만나러 왔어 = I came here to meet my friend. 친구를 만나서 왔어 = I met my friend on my way here and we came together. These descriptions can be used in these situations. #1 Friend: What are you doing here? 여기서 뭐해? Mayee:I came here to meet my friend. 나 친구 만나러 왔어! #2 Friend: Did you come here alone? 여기에 혼자서 왔어? Mayee: No, I met my friend on my way here and we came together! 아니! 오는길에 친구를 만나서 (같이) 왔어! Please understand my English! I hope for these explanations to be helpful!

Hi, Mayee. You are right. There are many ways to word that. The two ways you chose are fine. Russia probably would not be considered a Western country. That's a very interesting question and there is no perfectly defined defintion, but at least in the eyes of Britain and the United States, Communism put a sharp boundary between East and West during the Cold War between United States and Russia. Since places like the Czech Republic and Berlin, Germany are no longer behind 'The Iron Curtain' of Russian control, perhaps you could consider them western. Many consider New Zealand and Australia western also, and I would certainly agree. Also, most of Russia is geographically considered part of Asia, so perhaps that alone makes many people hesitant to count them as Western. I hope that helps. - Troy