The Next Town Over

[justinhowe]

Yesterday I spent some time in the next town over waiting for the bus. Dopyeong’s slightly bigger than Andeok with two bars, a fancier black bean noodle restaurant, a florist, a pool hall, and an actual supermarket. Where Andeok’s long and narrow, Dopyeong’s clustered around a major crossroads in a roughly triangular shape

Comments

[birdhousefrog]

I enjoyed these...especially the buddha. And what on earth is that single line superstructure in the town? It looks like a Disney monorail.

Oz

[justinhowe]

It's an aqueduct. It cuts through the center of town and is overgrown with ivy. I wish I had taken more pictures of it.

[birdhousefrog]

It's skiffy. And the juxtaposition of the buddha with the aqueduct is firing some neurons in my imagination. Reading the wiki entry on that was fascinating. I wish there were a better photo of the statue since they said it's a particularly good example of the period art. The discussion of how the Japanese tried to protect and restore the grotto was also firing neurons, too. Something about trying to keep nature out by sealing it and doing the opposite, keeping it from being a living, breathing thing. Sanctuary as something becoming sentient from the masses of pilgrims who have visited.

Those photos and links expanded my Virginia-bound brain this morning. Halfway round the world and still sitting on my couch.

[justinhowe]

Glad you liked them. I still enjoy looking out the bus windows here.

Seokguram's actually two hours away from where I live next to the aqueduct town. It's only the magic of an LJ-cut that brings them close together. ;)

Now quit reading my blog and get writing!

[anonymous]

awesome pics! very neat vibe. yeah, just like Oz, i wondered what that aqueduct/monorail thing was.

if you go back, tell Buddha that i said hey.

scotta

[justinhowe]

I really need to go back and take more pictures of that aqueduct. It's rare to see one cut through the center of town.

[asakiyume]

What a great set of pics--I love the curve of the cement wall by the roadside, and the picture right below it (second-to-last shot) is just the kind of narrow road I love, with the jumble of things, natural and manmade, beside it and tumbling into it.

[justinhowe]

Glad you liked them. And thanks for stopping by. I enjoyed your SH story "Cory's Father".

just the kind of narrow road I love, with the jumble of things, natural and manmade, beside it and tumbling into it.

Exactly. There's a lot of that where I'm living right now.

[asakiyume]

Thank you! I just read your "Of Shifting Skin and Certainty," which I enjoyed! (I hope you're not freaked out by the degree of stalking that just a friendly friending generated--but I liked your journal right away and then wanted to find out more.) Above and beyond the story itself, I liked the notion of volium as a living thing.

[justinhowe]

Thanks. I'm glad you liked it! I'm really happy BCS published that story. (And no worries, I don't consider "Who's this person who friended me on LJ?" reconnoitering to be stalking.)