Prague, London or Santiago? 2-3 years with a 5 year old

[Anonymous]

DH may have the opportunity to work in either of these cities. He is a fed. Curious if anyone has lived in either of these places? We’ve been to London and Prague.

[Anonymous]

I have been to all of them multiple times. My answer: none of them. Hope that helps!

[Anonymous]

Prague, always Prague.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DH may have the opportunity to work in either of these cities. He is a fed. Curious if anyone has lived in either of these places? We’ve been to London and Prague.

I love London but, personally I wouldn't choose to live there. Since I wished my kids were bilingual I would pick either Prague or Santiago. Also, the weather is better. I think a 5 year old would be able to pick up Czech or Spanish pretty quickly.

I wouldn't turn London down though as it is a good way to travel around Europe. My kids have been in the UK schools and we had issues with them being biased against Americans. I would just choose the other two over it. Other people may have more experience living in Prague and Santiago.

Where does your spouse want to go? Do you have any leanings?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have been to all of them multiple times. My answer: none of them. Hope that helps!

dp No, Danny Downer it does not help! Op is just staying there a few years! They aren't permanently moving. I feel if you are that negative you should keep your opinions to yourself

[Anonymous]

Santiago. Amazing opportunity to become bilingual and bi-cultural.

[Anonymous]

Prague is my favorite city in the world. For me that would be easy.

[Anonymous]

London

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Santiago. Amazing opportunity to become bilingual and bi-cultural.

Yes I would go with Santiago and I love London and Prague. I think Prague would be hard to meet expats but perhaps I’m wrong and kind of a silly language to learn. I’m fluent in Italian and it’s not useful at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DH may have the opportunity to work in either of these cities. He is a fed. Curious if anyone has lived in either of these places? We’ve been to London and Prague.

I love London but, personally I wouldn't choose to live there. Since I wished my kids were bilingual I would pick either Prague or Santiago. Also, the weather is better. I think a 5 year old would be able to pick up Czech or Spanish pretty quickly.

I wouldn't turn London down though as it is a good way to travel around Europe. My kids have been in the UK schools and we had issues with them being biased against Americans. I would just choose the other two over it. Other people may have more experience living in Prague and Santiago.

Where does your spouse want to go? Do you have any leanings?

He’s least interested in London, but we both agreed we’d be happy to live in any of these three cities. I agree on the travel opps re London, although definitely see opportunities in the other two cities. The other option is Tokyo but I lived there for a few years as a child and while I loved it, I would like to have a different experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Santiago. Amazing opportunity to become bilingual and bi-cultural.

Yes I would go with Santiago and I love London and Prague. I think Prague would be hard to meet expats but perhaps I’m wrong and kind of a silly language to learn. I’m fluent in Italian and it’s not useful at all.

“kind of a silly language to learn” tells me all I need to know about your engagement with different cultures.

[Anonymous]

I lived in Santiago for three years many years ago and then moved to London for ten years. No kids in Chile and very young kids in London but we left before they started school. A few thoughts. Unless things have changed, pollution could be very bad in Santiago and so anyone with asthma or other breathing issues might find it difficult. It didn’t bother me but I had a few colleagues with kids who were impacted. Suggest you research this to see if anything has changed. Do you or DH speak Spanish or Czech or have the ability to quickly pick up a language? If not, you might find yourself mostly moving in smallish expat circles. This isn’t necessarily bad as it depends on what you are looking for. Smaller groups of expats tend to be more welcoming and make an effort with newcomers. When you move to a large city where everyone speaks the same language, it is sometimes harder at first as you’re expected to be able to sort things out for yourself and people have busy lives. Obviously language wouldn’t be an issue in London. If your DH is a fed, would he be with the embassy? If so, find out what schooling options are provided. If you like to travel frequently then it is hard to beat being in London as it is a hub for flights and trains to so many places. Options for weekend trips abound. I can’t comment on Prague. I enjoyed living in Santiago but travel options for short trips were more limited. Santiago itself was very comfortable but it doesn’t have the historic atmosphere you find in some places - most historic buildings have been destroyed by earthquakes over the years plus it was never the wealthy center of power like some other Latin American cities. That said, you could get to the ski slopes in 1-2 hrs and beach in about 3 hrs. Also great vacation destinations throughout Latin America. If you do choose London, choose where you live carefully and make sure there is a community you could be comfortable with. Sometimes the richest and most beautiful parts (eg Mayfair) are full of wealthy foreigners who might not be the types of people you will become friends with.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DH may have the opportunity to work in either of these cities. He is a fed. Curious if anyone has lived in either of these places? We’ve been to London and Prague.

I love London but, personally I wouldn't choose to live there. Since I wished my kids were bilingual I would pick either Prague or Santiago. Also, the weather is better. I think a 5 year old would be able to pick up Czech or Spanish pretty quickly.

I wouldn't turn London down though as it is a good way to travel around Europe. My kids have been in the UK schools and we had issues with them being biased against Americans. I would just choose the other two over it. Other people may have more experience living in Prague and Santiago.

Where does your spouse want to go? Do you have any leanings?

He’s least interested in London, but we both agreed we’d be happy to live in any of these three cities. I agree on the travel opps re London, although definitely see opportunities in the other two cities. The other option is Tokyo but I lived there for a few years as a child and while I loved it, I would like to have a different experience.

I'm the pp. I'm so excited for your family. What an awesome adventure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DH may have the opportunity to work in either of these cities. He is a fed. Curious if anyone has lived in either of these places? We’ve been to London and Prague.

I love London but, personally I wouldn't choose to live there. Since I wished my kids were bilingual I would pick either Prague or Santiago. Also, the weather is better. I think a 5 year old would be able to pick up Czech or Spanish pretty quickly.

I wouldn't turn London down though as it is a good way to travel around Europe. My kids have been in the UK schools and we had issues with them being biased against Americans. I would just choose the other two over it. Other people may have more experience living in Prague and Santiago.

Where does your spouse want to go? Do you have any leanings?

He’s least interested in London, but we both agreed we’d be happy to live in any of these three cities. I agree on the travel opps re London, although definitely see opportunities in the other two cities. The other option is Tokyo but I lived there for a few years as a child and while I loved it, I would like to have a different experience.

I'm the pp. I'm so excited for your family. What an awesome adventure.

OP here, thank you so much!

[Anonymous]

I lived in Santiago for a month (so not nearly as long) and I’m not sure I would want to live there 2-3 years. The pollution situation is real although varies by season. The traffic is bad and the public transportation options are rather limited — I took bus to commute for the month I lived there but I was not nearly as convenient as DC public transportation. Agree with PP that it has a lot of interesting things but not like many other Latin American cities.

Also the Spanish accent and slang is a little different. It’s not the country I would pick to reall y learn Spanish.

I’ve never been to Prague but I had a friend that lived there for a year without kids and loved it. And London is London. I guess part of my London question would be whether you’ll get housing or have to pay your own way — that might be tough on a fed salary.