This will be an interesting topic to hear from current day parents.
Years ago we considered sending our son to Hungary alone to spend time with his cousins but thought the better of it since it was Soviet at that time.
We also considered sending him to boarding school in Germany but I knew I would miss him too much.
Knew a Hungarian couple in the US who had a child a bit later in their lives. The girl was born in the US but both parents were from HU.
They retired and took their 12 year old girl to Hungary. They had savings, income, nice cars and a beautiful house in Hungary. They had to leave however because their girl was being bullied at school in Hungary. She spoke Hungarian but had an accent, her parents were known for having the nicest car and house in the village and that was another reason for kids to torment her at school.
They stayed only one term, sold everything out in HU and returned to the US.
My HU husband worked in Las Vegas with several other Hungarians at a taxi co. for a bit.
One man was a Gypsy guy, really nice who had 3 kids born in the US, His wife was also from HU and also a Gypsy lady.
No one in the US ever bothered them because of their race and they had a comfortable living in the US.
They for some reason moved with their 3 kids to Budapest. I had gone with my husband once to actually visit the man's mother in the 8th district just because he had asked us to check on her when we were in Hungary. A super nice lady with such a cute clean little flat.
Long story, they sold everything and moved to Hungary with their 3 kids, the kids did speak Hungarian but not very well, also had accents.
Not sure exactly where they moved in Budapest, maybe near the grandmother in the 8th.
They were not in Hungary even one year when the guy asked for his job back in Vegas.
His children hated school in Hungary for so many reasons, they didn't fit in. The kids teased them about their western style of dressing, accents and all sorts of things.
They sold everything in the US and had to live in a mobile home until they could afford to get on their feet again.
I wonder if it is a good idea to bring kids or not. Private schools are very expensive and without proper language skills other children and cultural knowledge children will bully each other.
I also met a American women several years back here in Budapest. She was also from Calif. like I am.
Her husband was raised in Canada and his father had been a holocaust survivor who came back to HU after the changes.
They had a hard time although the grandfather was well off,he was supporting his son , his wife and 2 kids.Paying their rent etc.
Caused a riff with the other siblings in HU who didn't need help with bills. They sent their 8 year old boy to the American school at a cost of around $15.000 a year. The family made the grandfather stop paying for everything so they sent him to Hebrew school.He was doing well in the American school but only went there for one year.
Poor little guy, he could not speak much Hungarian or Hebrew. He was teased at normal Hungarian schools for not speaking Hungarian. They moved away from Hungary after living here for nearly 15 years. The strain of trying to make a go of it and the troubles with their son's schooling was their breaking point.
I found it both sad and interesting to see how moving to a new country can really effect kids,sort of not so bad that my boy went to school in the US after all.