Things I Miss About America, Part III: Open Space

Don't get me wrong, England as a whole has plenty of open space, but London is by far the most crowded city I’ve ever seen. I didn’t realize how much I missed open space until Bobby and I went to Oxford last weekend with a few friends from London and, instead of commenting on all the beautiful old buildings, we just kept talking about how much SPACE there was everywhere. We went into a Starbucks that had two stories and I almost had to sit down I was so blown away at how big it was. In reality, it was probably just a normal sized Starbucks, but I’m so used to all the tiny shops in London, that even normal sized rooms impress me.

There are just people EVERYWHERE in this city. When I first got here and didn’t have a job, I only rode the tube at non-rush-hour times and therefore thought it was the best public transportation system in the world. The train would come ever 2-3 minutes and I could almost always get a seat. My first day of work, I went down to the tube platform at 8:30 and there were, literally, 200 other people on that platform. I had to wait for 12 trains to come and go before I could get on one. This, as it turns out, is a pretty normal day on the London underground system. If I get on and don’t have to cram in like a sardine and push myself up against the wall, I think that it’s a great day. If I get a SEAT, well, I’ve never gotten a seat during rush-hour so I don’t even know what that feels like. It’s not that there’s a lack of trains. One train comes every one minute, there are just that many PEOPLE.

As some of you know, London is a very Green city in the sense that it has lots of parks. But, when I got to Green Park, right across the street form my building, at lunch, I almost have to fight to get a spot on the grass. I just can’t get away from people in this city.

This “can’t get away from people” feeling continues at home where bobby and I share a very tiny flat. In truth, the size of the flat wouldn’t be that bad, it’s just the fact that we only have one piece of furniture on which you can sit in our apartment- a love seat. This means that any time bobby and I are both sitting down, we’re sitting directly next to each other. Now, I love bobby, but I would really love to be in the same room as him and not be sitting on the same piece of furniture. That would be great.

I was talking to my friend Nishant at lunch the other day and came to the odd realization that I miss Yorktown Virginia. I miss driving 15 minutes to the grocery store, I miss walking around and not seeing another person, I miss the quite. While I really love living in London right now, I don’t think I could ever live in a city forever. I really do need my space.