Public Transit

So one thing that Bonnie and I will have to get accustomed to in Korea is the fact that we are not going to have a car; at all. So we will be doing a lot of bus, train, and subway riding. As a result I decided that I should take a little adventure today via the Columbia Public Transit system.

I had a dentist appointment at 9 and we were meeting my step-sis Jessie and her bf Jeff at Chipotle at noon. Bonnie wanted to go downtown to Kaldi's (the best coffee shop ever!) and spend some time reading and probably creeping on Facebook. In the interest of conserving fuel and not having two cars downtown at the same time I had the novel idea: maybe I should look into taking the bus.

I got back from the dentist at 9:50ish and hopped on the comp to look up the bus schedule. I noticed that there was a bus coming by a stop near our house at 10:22 (I love the precision) so I closed up the comp, strapped on my Chaco's, and started walking to the bus stop. This was going to be the first time in my 7 years here in CoMo that I had ever taken the bus anywhere.

It took me about 10 - 15 minutes to walk to the bus stop and I waited about 7 minutes or so for the bus to arrive. I was a little nervous about the whole process because it was all so new. Well as I sat waiting for the bus a car pulled up in front of the bus stop and I realized that it was a girl from YL and Rock Bridge, Kelsie Shearrer . I began to feel squeamish. She rolled down her window and politely asked with a subtly pitying tone, "Mr. Meyer, can I please give you a ride." That was so nice of her. I replied in turn informing her of my intent to meet Bonnie downtown. How fitting that the first time I choose to ride the bus someone sees me and offers a ride. I resisted the temptation though.

Then the bus arrived. I hopped on paid my 50 cents and sat down to enjoy the ride. I'll be honest there was something quite enjoyable about just being able to sit there and read a book and not have to hassle with traffic and driving and all that stuff. I rode for about 15 minutes and the bus stopped about 3 blocks from Kaldi's so I pulled the cord, told the driver thanks, and went on my merry way.

I would say that my first experience with public transit was most enjoyable. The driver even wished me a good day as I exited the bus. That was so nice of him! Now the question is will I be able to read the bus schedule in Korea? I hope they have an English version...