Thoughts

I just wanted to quickly jot down some things I have been noticing that I believe are relevant to economics and technology, two major facets in our common course class.

Firstly, I have been noticing the vast amount of foreigners here in London. I know this is a major metropolitan city, but I feel like I see more foreigners here than I do Londoners. I most commonly see Japanese people, but overall, London seems to be a huge melting pot of many different kinds of ethnicities. This obviously relates to the huge economic variety and opportunities in this city. People from all around the world flock here to find something of interest to them or to even find work in general. People from very poor and poverty-stricken countries come here to find work and often work for very cheap since anything is better than the life they had in their original homeland. Others come here to find a specific kind of work or something of more interest than the job they had previously. Foreigners also come here, as I am, to be a tourist and take in the rich history and exciting life London has to offer. Either way, London is full of people from every corner of the world.

As I continue to live here for a longer amount of time and travel to various places, I have noticed the difference between the modern buildings and the historical buildings. The historical buildings in London as well as the other countries I have been to seem to have more thought and detail put into them and are not as large as contemporary buildings. Compared to historic buildings, modern buildings are constructed in no time flat, which in my opinion causes them to look rather bland and hurts the image of the country they are built in. Take London for example. Modern buildings here are very close together and seem to be constructed of only steel and glass. Historic buildings in London are made out of fine stone and/or marble and have very intricate designs carved into them. Whenever I am walking around town, I take notice of these two types of buildings, and I must say I would rather the town have more older buildings than newer ones. While enormous in size and eye-catching, the modern day buildings don't contribute as much to the London economy as the preserved historic buildings do. I would much rather see more buildings such as Westminster Abbey and St. Paul's Cathedral than the Lloyd's Building and Millennium Dome.

I have also noticed the difference between US and UK traffic lights. The yellow light in the UK is used when the light is about to turn red as well as when it is about to turn green. The yellow light in the US is only used when the light is about to turn red. I believe it is a smarter idea to use the yellow light on both occasions as this lets drivers know when to get ready to stop and go. This is just something I have noticed and wanted to share my thoughts about; I am not entirely sure if it has a major relevance to economics or technology, but I still thought it was interesting.

I am sure there will be more things I notice within the coming weeks, so I will most likely have another journal entry like this one soon. Until then--cheers.