채은
Chuseok, the Korean harvest festival, is approaching! Celebrations during festivals around the world share a common theme of reuniting with family, enjoying delicious food, and taking a break from work to relax. To return to one’s hometown, you need to book train or bus tickets, but during Chuseok, there is intense competition for train tickets due to the influx of people heading home. That’s why the KTX ticket reservation app, Korail, designates a separate period for selling Chuseok KTX tickets. This year, ticket sales started on August 30th at 7 AM, and there was a significant waiting period as soon as it began, with over 50,000 people waiting. It felt like trying to buy tickets for a concert featuring a famous celebrity. Because of the high demand for travel during Chuseok, some people are unable to secure tickets and can’t go back to their hometowns. I, too, failed to get tickets last year, but fortunately, I can go this year.
Even if you fail to secure KTX tickets, there’s an alternative. You can take a high speed bus. However, it’s not always easy to book high-speed bus tickets during Chuseok, and there can be significant delays if there is traffic congestion on the highways. Nevertheless, despite these inconveniences, people are excited and filled with anticipation during this time. I believe it’s because they carry the warmth of reuniting with family in their hearts.
The Human Rights and Welfare Committee at Hanyang University has implemented the “Chuseok Homecoming Bus” project this time. They gather people who are going home directly from the university and rent buses to go together. Based on demand surveys, many people from various cities such as Busan, Daegu, Changwon, and Daejeon have applied to ride the bus, and bus routes have been established. Thanks to this initiative, students who may have missed out on bus or train reservations have the opportunity to go home. It’s a truly commendable project. I hope you can enjoy delicious food and have a pleasant time.
myHUBS 
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