Staring at brochures until the coffee got cold

Just looking at the brochures felt like a second job

I spent half of last Tuesday sitting at a cafe near the Seoul Garden Hotel, just trying to process the sheer volume of information I’d gathered. My desk at home was already a mess of pamphlets from various fairs—there was that one about the Australian education expo at COEX, a stack about the Philippine study abroad programs, and some glossy folders for American boarding schools. Honestly, it’s a lot. People talk about early study abroad like it’s just a matter of picking a destination and writing a check, but it feels more like trying to assemble a puzzle where half the pieces are hidden behind complex visa requirements and fluctuating exchange rates. The current high exchange rate makes everything feel significantly heavier. Every time I see a number for tuition, I have to mentally convert it, and the number just keeps moving in the wrong direction.

The endless comparison loop

I went to one of those education talk shows because I thought, maybe if I hear from an expert, I’ll feel more confident about the direction. They talked about the difference between language academies, video tutoring, and full-blown early study abroad. I found myself scribbling down notes about the pros and cons of an international middle school versus just sending them off for a summer camp in the Philippines. It wasn’t necessarily helpful in the way I wanted it to be. Instead, I just left feeling like there were five more options I hadn’t considered. I mean, do I look at Canada, or maybe focus on the junior English camps in the Philippines where the tuition is lower? Even the shorter, four-week programs start to add up once you factor in flights and living expenses.

Waiting for a sign that doesn’t exist

There was a moment when I was reading through some notes about a student wanting to do a short-term high school exchange in Japan. It reminded me of my own teenage years, where I just wanted to jump into a new environment. But looking at it now, as a parent, the logistical nightmare is all I see. Does the school have space? Is the visa process going to take three months or six? I remember calling an agency once just to ask about the wait time for a Canadian student visa, and they gave me such a vague answer that I just hung up and stared at my screen for twenty minutes. It’s that kind of quiet, mounting frustration that nobody really mentions when they talk about ‘global education.’ You spend hours searching for the right path, only to realize that the ‘right path’ is really just a series of trade-offs.

The reality of financial aid

I’ve been looking into American boarding schools recently, specifically checking if there’s any room left for August enrollment. Everyone talks about the prestige, but my main focus is whether there’s any financial aid left on the table. It feels weirdly transactional, digging through websites for ‘need-based’ grants, but with the way costs are right now, I don’t think we have the luxury of pride. I read somewhere that some schools still have openings if you move fast, but ‘moving fast’ in the world of international admissions usually means paying a deposit before you’ve even had a chance to visit the campus. That’s a gamble I’m not sure I’m ready for yet.

Maybe it is just a feeling of uncertainty

I’m still not sure if we’re actually going to go through with any of this. Some days I wake up and think the international middle school is the safest bet, and other days I think we should just stay local and double down on intensive tutoring. There isn’t a perfect answer. Every time I think I’ve made a decision, I read another post about how someone had a terrible experience with an agency or how their kid got homesick within two weeks. It’s hard to tell if this is a genuine investment in their future or just a way for me to feel like I’m doing something productive. Maybe I’ll head back to that cafe tomorrow, but I think I’ll leave the brochures at home this time.