Sure, some things are better here in Korea. I’ve written about many. But one thing the US has going for it are the school buses. If you’re far enough away from school in America, there’s almost certainly a school bus that will pick you up and take you back home. Not here.

DongHyun’s first week at school was a little tumultuous. While there is a brand new high school just across the river from Cheonsang, he got assigned to a high school about 5 miles away. He tried the city bus first, which costs about $1 each way. One was way too early and one was too late and that exhausted his bus options. Getting back home on the city bus meant he would haven’t have time to get to his after-school study sessions as it would be almost 11:30pm by then. He tried a taxi, but at about $5 each way, that would exhaust a lot of cash getting him there and back.

Luckily, one of the other private schools near here (an English school like mine) runs a private bus to the high school. For $30 a month, he gets a direct ride from our neighborhood to the school. He got lucky and our wallets did, too.

Sometimes, its the little things that makes a difference. Amazing how much stress there was in the house trying to find an economical but timely way to get him to school. The yellow school buses of America, that seem  to be everywhere there  (usually in front of you when you’re in a hurry) were sorely missed.