01-27-2010, 12:23 AM
How old are your kids now Thudz?
As a military brat, I'll give you my perspective from a kid's point of view. I'm the youngest so I caught the tail end of my Dad's tours of duty. I ended up in Pattaya Beach, Thailand for about two years when I was 5.
As a kid, it was the greatest time, evAr. One big adventure. My parents never tried to shield us from the fact that we were living in a third world country. Judging from today's parents and kids, it's unbelieveable how much freedom we had over there. I saw, did, and ate things that 99% of American kids never get to see, do, or eat. Even though my Dad worked on a Marine base, we lived for most of the stay in offbase housing. I lost a lot of baby teeth trying to chew on sugar cane cut fresh from the field, and learned to appreciate the taste of freshly roasted field rat and roasted giant water beetle. I pretty much went native with all the freedom I had and spent a ton of time either at the beach or out in the sticks with my brother and our Thai friends. I learned a lot about another completely foreign culture, at least from a kids point of view, by practically living with a Thai family in their stick hut for days at a time. I probably helped that nobody could tell us apart from Thai kids, especially since my brother learned to speak fluent Thai. On the flip side, I was literally almost killed three times, only one of which times my parents actually knew about.
I went to kindergarten and started first grade while I was overseas. I went to small American schools, most of it out of an expats spare room that had been converted into a schoolroom. I received a lot of one on one tutoring because I was already behind in reading and writing skills from moving around so much. It was probably among the best schooling I recieved due to the student/teacher ratio and the dedication of the teacher.
The toughest part was coming back to the States. I had to relearn a lot about American culture and get used to wearing shoes again. I had to repeat first grade because we left midyear, so, I was always one of the oldest kids in my class until I graduated. I'd say for about 5 to 10 years after coming back to the States, I just really wanted to be back in Thailand. I spent a lot of time in elementary school either hopelessly distracted or feeling completely out of touch with American kids. I eventually got over most it by Middle School, but it was a bit of a struggle. I think a lot of the reason why I travel so much now is because the idea of being in a foreign environment was imprinted on me so early.
So, if your kids are gonna be a big part of your decision, it could be the best experience ever for them, but still completely unsettling in ways you probably can never completely account for.
As a military brat, I'll give you my perspective from a kid's point of view. I'm the youngest so I caught the tail end of my Dad's tours of duty. I ended up in Pattaya Beach, Thailand for about two years when I was 5.
As a kid, it was the greatest time, evAr. One big adventure. My parents never tried to shield us from the fact that we were living in a third world country. Judging from today's parents and kids, it's unbelieveable how much freedom we had over there. I saw, did, and ate things that 99% of American kids never get to see, do, or eat. Even though my Dad worked on a Marine base, we lived for most of the stay in offbase housing. I lost a lot of baby teeth trying to chew on sugar cane cut fresh from the field, and learned to appreciate the taste of freshly roasted field rat and roasted giant water beetle. I pretty much went native with all the freedom I had and spent a ton of time either at the beach or out in the sticks with my brother and our Thai friends. I learned a lot about another completely foreign culture, at least from a kids point of view, by practically living with a Thai family in their stick hut for days at a time. I probably helped that nobody could tell us apart from Thai kids, especially since my brother learned to speak fluent Thai. On the flip side, I was literally almost killed three times, only one of which times my parents actually knew about.
I went to kindergarten and started first grade while I was overseas. I went to small American schools, most of it out of an expats spare room that had been converted into a schoolroom. I received a lot of one on one tutoring because I was already behind in reading and writing skills from moving around so much. It was probably among the best schooling I recieved due to the student/teacher ratio and the dedication of the teacher.
The toughest part was coming back to the States. I had to relearn a lot about American culture and get used to wearing shoes again. I had to repeat first grade because we left midyear, so, I was always one of the oldest kids in my class until I graduated. I'd say for about 5 to 10 years after coming back to the States, I just really wanted to be back in Thailand. I spent a lot of time in elementary school either hopelessly distracted or feeling completely out of touch with American kids. I eventually got over most it by Middle School, but it was a bit of a struggle. I think a lot of the reason why I travel so much now is because the idea of being in a foreign environment was imprinted on me so early.
So, if your kids are gonna be a big part of your decision, it could be the best experience ever for them, but still completely unsettling in ways you probably can never completely account for.
Moristans: err
What the f*** Skelas - I know this is NSFW, but I coudn't watch this at work...
-Orsun
What the f*** Skelas - I know this is NSFW, but I coudn't watch this at work...
-Orsun