“Sokcho was waiting”

The expression Sokcho was waiting gives the town a posture of suspended expectation: winter and fish define its immediate world, while tourists, boats, men, and spring belong to what it awaits.

The Image of Waiting

The image first joins the town to its season and its livelihood: "Oozing winter and fish, Sokcho waited." The phrasing makes waiting feel like part of Sokcho’s atmosphere, shaped by winter and the presence of fish rather than by a single character’s stated emotion.

What the Town Awaits

The next sentence makes that personification explicit: "That was Sokcho, always waiting, for tourists, boats, men, spring." Its list moves from visitors and vessels to people and the turning season, leaving the town’s expectation broad rather than tied to one promised arrival. Together, the two sentences present Sokcho as defined by anticipation, with the coming of spring set alongside the movement of people and boats.