Small Fish in a Big Bowl

I love Hawai'i.  I love being a student at the University of Hawai'i.  However, ever since my undergraduate studies, I wanted to get away.  I fantasized about moving to a big city after graduation where I would get a waitress job and just scrape by for a year.  I wanted to be a small fish in a big bowl.  I thought about this today as we took our "flight" on the London Eye today.

Check out the expanse of the city -- and this was only a portion (we had a 360 degree view).  Imagine this going out in all directions.  We learned that London is comprised of about 7.7 million people, with an average of 15 million international visitors yearly.  Wow!

A major observation that many of us made when we arrived in London was that the size of everything seems a bit smaller than in the US.  The bottles of soda, juice boxes, snacks, even the flats seem a bit tiny.  My roommates and I have definitely discovered that the size of the showers here are absolutely miniature.  Imagine standing in the middle of a glass rectangular prism with half an arm span between you and the walls.  There is no sarcasm here - it really is tiny. 

But ... all of this makes complete sense - with so many people crammed into a small area, it would only be logical that each person learns to live with less space.  Katy's friend Fran visited our flat one day and she mentioned that it was actually quite large for this part of town.

I can now cross off being a small fish in a big pond - here I am in one huge pond.  I guess it's more like I'm a small fish, in a small rectangular prism shower, in a small flat, in a small building, in a big pond :).  This makes me think two things.  One, we are very lucky to be so blessed with space in the United States.  On the other hand, we need to really start taking responsibility for the space and resources that are ours.

The London Eye from this perspective made me think of the beautiful windmills that we have in Hawai'i.  Yes, I think they're beautiful ... more for their function, but also for their form.  I hope that we can learn to rely more on renewable energy resources.

Today I learned that these blogs are to be a bit more reflective than I have been in the past days.  However, I'd like to include just a couple of pictures to share and remember my journey by.  After we rode the London Eye, we took a trip to Westminster Abbey, St. James' Square, and saw Billy Elliot.  I have not uploaded my photos from Billy Elliot yet, but I will shortly.

                                                

With Hugh, our favorite tour guide!

Just lovely!

Chillin' at St. James' Square ... lovely day for the park.

Feeding the ducks.  I got a squirrel to run up my leg and eat from my hand!

Tomorrow we explore the British Museum.  I am totally stoked to do that.  Until then, toodles!