I have had a dream for many years now to live partlyore fulltime in Philippines. We visited Dumaguete and Valencia in March this year and i like the erea. I have a son 12years old witch im thinking to bring for a 6months stay, but im not shure if he is better off home? So whom better to ask then ppl who have experiance? If you have kids about the same age, whats your experianse? Is it easy to get some friends and wold that be forigner friends ore locals? How about the kids freetime? Did they get into some hobbys ore things they like to do in their free time? Did they like the way school works there? In general im just wanting to know how your kids enjoy the stay there in Philippines? I guess most of you have grown kids, but im shure there is some with similar situation like mine... I guess its important that the kids have some of the comforts they are used to at home like internett and other things... If the culture shock is to big they dont adapt as fast as some of us "grownups":-) Thanks RCS
foreign kids Where do you currently live? We moved from the states 2 years ago and we have a 13 year old. IMHO, 6 months will be very difficult on your 12 year old. No problem making friends, just that the adjustment period is much longer. School is MUCH different here than what our child was used to, also. You would be better off home-schooling during those 6 months. There is also lot of red tape involved in getting a child enrolled, especially only for 6 months, it wouldn't be worth it. Our 13 year old is very happy now, has many more friends than in the states and has adjusted to the school, but it took much longer than 6 months. Good Luck!!
I think depending on where you live, if there are several kids around the same age as your son and he doesn't miss back home too much, he will stand out and many other kids will be honored to know him. Although I have seen a few exceptions. 1 was a very huge obese and spoiled 16 year old girl from the states, who couldn't handle the different humor of the younger crowd and couldn't wait to go home where she fit in better. I have a 16 year old Pinoy step son, he has lot's of hobbies. He plays on a basketball team, goes hiking, plays guitar and spends lot's of time on the beach with friends when he's not in school. Hope this helps some. Ron
Hi Guys. Thanks for your experiance on this. We liv in Norway outside a small city. Friends hava always been a issue for my son since we live a bit outside where his friends live. But he do have friends he visit regularly... He also have the ADHD and i guess this makes him feel a bit left out many times and gives him a bad self asteem. He just started in 8th grade where they will have grades (In Norway kids dont get grades before they go to 8th grade until 10th grade. We call it "ungdomsskole" ore "youthschool". ) What im thinking is that i might be able to give him a break in life and let him experiance something diffrent. Hes been to Philippines one time earlyer, when i got married 3 years ago, and he was swarmed by girls...Even older girls :-). So i guess i have to make shure he dosent fall in love there...Hehe. He might not want to go home. Maby 6months is not enough time to get settled and "learn" how it is to stay there. I know for my self that i enjoy philippines moore and moore as time passes on. You need a few months just to adjust to the heat there compared to Norway :-). When it comes to home schooling i dont think im the right person for that. Im not smart enough for the 8th grade :-). So i think that wold be difficult. Permres: You say school is werry diffrent there. I what way? You come from US? so school there is also diffrent then Norway. But all in all thay are there to learn. Is it the attitude of classmates and teatcher ore the things they learn you feel is diffrent? I know there is a ekstra schooling that Norwegian kids can take online to keep up with the Norwegian system, but im shure if he have to take fulltime school there and then extra Norwegian type classes on top of this he wish he was back home... Thanks for your opinions. Its always interesting to learn what other parents experiance. But whats the "plan" when your kids reach 18? Will they stay in Phil ore move "home"? Im thinking its not easy to live in Philippines if you dont have a pension ore other income abilitys. Finding a job there isent easy?
When I said school is very different here....it is very different here. When we arrived they were doing much different stuff than what they were doing at the same grade level in the states. That isn't to say that it is more advanced, per se, just saying they were studying different topics that our child hadn't gotten into yet, so it was a difficult transition at first. We have found the school to be very disorganized as far as not notifying parents via letters sent home as to upcoming meetings and events. Not sure if they do that on purpose to make the children learn more responsibility or what. Also, they were notorious last year for expecting school supplies to be bought with no notice (We have to have it tomorrow!!), and by the time our child was getting out of school, many of the stores were already closing, which meant we were out shopping as soon as the stores opened the next day and trying to find supplies in time for class. This year, at least it seems, the teachers are more organized and we haven't been sent out on those scavenger hunts. As far as college....we will probably go back to the states for that. Since our child is still a U.S. citizen, will qualify for grants, etc....and getting a degree here will most likely only increase the chances of getting a job at Shakeys or the call centre, it will be in the best interest to go home and get a degree there and stay there to find employment (hopefully the job situation will be better by then!)
I guess these things we can only wait and see how is. Since we dont use the same system as Philippines and US, im shure it will be even moore diffrent for my son. But i think he can take the change. One problem i can see coming then is getting messages across. This have always been a problem since he never remembers to relay messages and papers he get at school. I guess a close relation to the school and the teatcher is a must then. When it comes to US and work... I was reading a blog of a known economy specialist in Norway today and what he writes it dosent look good for anything connected to economy and work in the coming years. Unless someone have a "magic rabitt to pull out of a hat" as he said... Thanks for ur thoughts on school!!
