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Originally Posted by leftyderek
Oh I'm not sure about rotating countries when the kids are still too young-it will be extremely hard for them to get playmates and some 'we grew up together' friends... but taking them around after them growing up would be a cool idea.
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Yeah, I did pick up a lot of Icelandic, actually. Not perfect, but I can talk with my family and do small transactions in town. As for rotating countries... I don't know, the whole "growing up" together thing wasn't a huge deal for me, since I changed elementary schools every year (6 times, without ever moving from my actual home) and learned to adapt to the constantly changing atmosphere. I loved having so many different kinds of friends, and I still do... having a wide range of friends from different countries is a highlight of my life.
So, I don't know... I'm pretty "post-national," "post-ethnic," whatever you call it, so I think it's better to not belong to one country in particular, if it can be helped. But that's just my perspective right now, which, granted, is at 4am in the middle of grading archaeology papers.
Maybe you're right, waiting till they are at least 10 years old or something before traveling around to 5 countries all over the world. But living in two countries in one's childhood, that could be manageable..
But yes, exposure to languages is the next best thing to living in different countries. It is an investment in that culture, and in the values of that side of the family. I think it is essential to any cross-cultural relationship, including with the children.