Good point, not to mention the fact that sending people to Japan or other disaster would require additional logistics planning or add strain to a damaged local food supply chain.
Have you tried public transport in London ? Or the local food.
As a matter of fact, yes and I found them to be both adequate. The university I attended (USA based) sends freshman overseas during spring break for a ridiculously small amount of money. I chose to go on the London trip.
I've been there twice, and only ever used public transport; it worked fine, much better than in the US. And there's plenty of good food.