The Hype Cycle

The introduction of new technologies seems to follow a common trajectory, called the hype cycle. This cycle includes both over-inflated expectations and a realistic view of what the technology can actually do. I think this cycle applies equally to living in another country. We are now firmly in what one would call the trough of Disillusionment. It is at this point where all the newness of the experience has fallen away and we realize that, while dramatically different from our previous life, this new life is, well, just life after all.

It includes such mundane realities as paying taxes (40% income tax, 17.5% sales tax and property tax, even though we don't actually own any property, and NHS fees, even though we pay for private insurance so we can actually see a doctor). It includes commuting (50 minutes each way minimum, all of it in standing and in close proximity to irritants of all varieties - bad breath, body odor, cell phones (many now have a feature whereby the owner can play music through its speakers. What misanthrop thought this would be a good idea?), loud talkers, loud breathers and slumpers - those who think that my body is something they can safely lean against. It includes an endless cycle of baths, laundry, sandwiches, carrot sticks, cookies, markers, crayons, bits of paper. It includes gum on the sidewalks. It includes little eddies of leaflets, swirling on a current gritty air. It includes a great deal of strawberry jam.

London is noisy, dirty, chilly, damp, expensive, inconvenient and impersonal.

So why do we still love living here?