Early birds

I arrive at school at 7:05 after a 35 minute commute by school-supplied teacher and staff bus. Classes begin at 7:50. While it may seem early, such a start is needed in a vast city of 16 million where some students commute 1.5 hours or more each way every day. If I were to leave at 7:00 instead of 6:30, my commute would be at least one hour as the highway locks up and the 3 lanes of bridge traffic linking Asia to Europe would slow to a crawl. Afternoons are not much different. If I leave by the service bus at 15:45, I get home close to 17:00, but when I have an after school club or activity, I can either take a service bus at 17:45, arriving at home closer to 19:15 or later, or I can walk 50 minutes to the Metrobus which uses a dedicated lane and arrive home in 1 hour and 5 minutes. One needs to be a logistics expert to live here ... but I am reminded that the commute is worth it as I trudge up the pre-dawn incline into the pictured hallowed halls.