Television - with Subtitles.

Leisure Girl admits that she loves television. Maybe a little too much, as it sometimes feels like it should fall into the "dirty little secret" category. So the summer months, while wonderful for beach reading and action packed movies, are often filled with television (or lack of television) blues. Thank goodness for the website My Soju which gives Leisure Girl a portal to hours (and hours) of Korean TV.

A note on Korean TV for all those skeptics out there. There TV series are one shot deals so in 16 or so episodes they cover a lot of ground, since they're not saving anything for future seasons. It more resembles a long and multi-part movie.
So if you feel ready to take a dip in the Korean TV pool this summer (and you won't regret it, Leisure Girl promises) I recommend starting out with Coffee Prince or The 1st Shop of Coffee Prince (available on the website). The site describes it as "The life of Go Eun Chan (Yoon Eun Hye) is not easy; she works many jobs to pay off debts and even gave up her feminine image. Choi Han Kyul (Gong Yoo) is the heir of a big food company, but his grandmother wants him to settle down, so she arranged many dates for him. After Eun Chan bumped into Han Kyul and was mistaken for a boy, Han Kyul decided to hire Eun Chan to be his gay lover in order to avoid the arranged dates. Desperately in need of money, Eun Chan had no choice but to accept. Han Kyul's grandmother also made Han Kyul in charge of a filthy coffee shop in danger of being bankrupt. Eun Chan begged to work at the coffee shop, and not long after, feelings start to spark, except, how would Han Kyul accept his "homosexuality"?"

And yet, that totally fails to sum up the wonderfulness. Basically, cute boys, cute couples, romantic misunderstandings that are all resolved happily (as they should be). Plus there's the enjoyable other-ness of Korean TV (weird food, even weirder clothes). All heartily recommended.

Want even more Korean fun? Eventually, you will. If so try Palace Princess Hours (available on Netflix). This one is so fabulous there are really no words. The plot synopsis is "Based on a comic book and set in modern-day Seoul, this TV drama reimagines Korea as a monarchy -- complete with a fabulous palace that's home to a gaggle of young royals. In the episodes included here, crown prince Lee Shin (Ji-hun Ju), his commoner bride-to-be (Eun-hye Yun) and the rest of the blue bloods and hangers-on get pulled into the political rivalries and romantic imbroglios of palace life. Former boy band idol Jeong-hun Kim also stars." This one has even better clothes, a great romance, and teddy bear tableaus at the end of ever episode. What more could a Leisure Girl want?