Reply to Crazy to consider moving to Europe?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]My DH works for a Swedish company and could basically put in to relocate to Stockholm, London, or Berlin at any point. Our kids are currently 5 and 2 years old. We've been throwing around the idea of moving to the EU since DH would already have a job, I own a small business and could easily work from anywhere, and the kids are not yet really established in the school district or with friends/activities. One major perk we discussed is if we stayed 5+ years and became dual citizens, the kids could go to college anywhere in the EU. Also, we're attracted to the work-life balance, opportunity to travel, healthcare, childcare available. If my DH moved to the European side of the company, he would get August off every year on top of his regular generous PTO. We do currently live within 15 mins of all the grandparents which would be a big change, but DH's parents are in the process of building their retirement home a few hours away. The kids don't have any cousins yet (Dh and I are both the oldest in our families).

Any thoughts or experiences?[/quote]

I don't think you will necessarily be given citizenship after 5 years, and being an EU citizen doesn't give you the right to college in any EU country. Do you speak German or Swedish? It's no picnic to pick up a new language at your age. Would these countries give you a work visa?[/quote]

This. People - especially Americans - tend to forget about the whole language thing. Yes, the rest of the world speaks English and of course you can get by with English only or just conversational Swedish/German, but you can never truly integrate into a society without knowing the language. You will exist on the periphery and will be an outside observer to the country. Language learning and complete assimilation is hard at 40+, and most Americans just aren't up for that. They seem to be ready for an "adventure" and not the true life of an immigrant. True assimilation is tough. And it can be very lonely. [/quote]

German speaker here (as a second language). German and Swedish are among the easiest languages for English speakers to learn.[/quote]

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