d-Wizz Hankuk Travel Diary [2005]
Day 21 (2005-08-16) / Day 22 (2005-08-17) / Day 23 (2005-08-18) 
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Day 22: 2005-08-17 (Wednesday)
The morning was very busy. After a quick breakfast, I had to pack all my things away in the suitcases, and prepare to catch the Mugungwha train #1454 to Yongsan, which was due to depart Gwangju at 0905. Spike’s father drove us to the station, and we arrived there at about 0830. I had my W20,000 fare ready, but I was told at the ticket window that the train was full: “no seat”. Spike said I should try taking a bus, and I reluctantly agreed. So we went to the bus terminal. I paid W13,700 for a bus to Seoul, which was due to leave at 0951.
Spike could not stay with me, as he needed to register for his university courses at 1000, so we said our final goodbyes and photos, and I bid him farewell.
I had scored a front seat on the bus, so I was able to experience a drivers’ view for the first time on Korean roads. I took photos of some of the interesting signs along the way. The bus arrived at the “Express Bus Terminal” in Seoul at about 1400, and I began to try finding my way back to the guest house at Hongik. The first thing to do was to find the closest subway station. This was initially a difficult thing, but shortly I saw signs directing me towards line 7, and a station called (strangely enough) “Express Bus Terminal” (734). I studied the subway map, and noticed that I could change at Daerim (744) to line 2 (233), and thus get to Hongik (239) with only one transfer. These logistics proceeded smoothly, and I arrived at the guest house about one hour after getting off the bus.
I had an easy afternoon just resting and doing a few things on the computer. I left at 1800 to meet Jack at Sunkyunkwon University for dinner and the FX recording session, which I had been eagerly anticipating for a while. Our appointment was for 1930, but he sent me a message saying he would probably be about 30 minutes later.
At Sunkyunkwon University, I took a few photos of the beautiful sunset which was on display when I arrived.
We met, and Jack drove me in his car a short distance to a building and ushered me inside and up three flights of stairs to his church’s cafe. There was nobody there at this time, and Jack said this was a better place to record than his home, because it was more spacious and probably quieter. He went to get something to eat while I set up the recording equipment I had brought with me.
As we were eating together, I debriefed Jack on what I was hoping to achieve from the session. I wanted Jack to play guitar with click tracks, and also sing a few songs with the MIDI backing tracks on my CD. He selected “Still”, by Reuben Morgan as one to try, and also “Power Of Your Love”. He got his guitar and began to play as I adjusted the recording controls for a good sound. Then I organised the click track and headphones for Jack, and he began recording.
Most of what Jack played was good, but he was not able to vary his strumming pattern much, and this was going to be a bit of a problem for some of the songs. I decided to try his singing, so I changed CDs and played “Power Of Your Love”, asking him to sing with the backing track in Korean. He did his best, but unfortunately, his voice was not as strong as I had thought, and I realised that I could probably not use these recordings in the FX project, knowing the quality of the other participants. I began to feel sorry for Jack and disappointed at the effort which had come to almost nothing.
It was rather late when we packed everything up, and Jack offered me to stay overnight at his apartment, because his sharemate was away that night. I was very tired, so I accepted his invitation. He told me that before he went to bed, he would go for a walk with his friend for about 30 minutes. He invited me to join him, and I accepted this too – but the ‘walk’ turned out to be a jog around a few laps of the local university oval, and as I was too tired to run, I sat down and waited for Jack and his friend to return. We walked back to Jack’s apartment; I was still a bit upset about the outcome of the recording session, as I had been really looking forward to it, and it had been a complete mess. I fell asleep rather quickly after settling down in bed at Jack’s.
Day 21 (2005-08-16) / Day 22 (2005-08-17) / Day 23 (2005-08-18)
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