In the fall of 2011, I was in a hotel room in Honolulu inexplicably bored out of my mind. I turned on the TV and ended up on an all Korean channel. Thinking I could at least be confusingly amused for 10 minutes I started watching a sageuk. While I was familiar with Chinese historical dramas, up until that fateful point I had never watched a Korean Drama, never been interested in a sageuk, and didn't understand why I couldn't stop watching the screen even though there were NO SUBTITLES. 30 minutes later I was rearranging my schedule so that I could be at home the next day to catch the next episode. 

When I got home from vacation, to be 'silly' I pieced together the name of the show - "Dong Yi" - and 60 episodes later, my love of dramas was born. The love affair started slowly. In the beginning it was just wanting a second chance for my favorite second male lead (Bae Su Bin) to end up with the main gal Han Hyo Joo, which, of course, lead me to Shining Inheritance. 10 episodes in I could no longer care less about Bae Su Bin and I had completely contracted, and then overtaken by, Lee Seung Gi fever. How was it possible for someone to be so cute and such a jerk, at the same time? 

In the first few years, I was watching an average of a couple of dramas a year and slowly getting the hang of drama tropes, terminology, and the overall Korean culture. Over 40 dramas and some 900 episodes later, I can now say it is my biggest hobby and I am inexplicably, uncontrollably hooked. 

Some of my recommendations from the last couple of year are below. 

If you're in the mood for a drama that...

...is a beautiful and sometimes heartbreaking view into everyday life, watch Misaeng (2014).

...is full of intrigue, a little violent, and has powerful acting, watch Cruel City (2013).

...will make you warm with happiness because of how undeniably sweet it is, watch Hogu's Love (2015).

...is light, funny, and sexy, watch I Need Romance 3 (2014).

...pretends to be a light romcom but is actually wonderfully dark, watch It's Okay, That's Love (2014).

...is action, time travel done right, watch Nine (2013) or Signal (2016)

...is a damn good but not crazy long Sageuk, watch The Princess's Man (2011).

...is young (but not annoyingly so), fun, and full of bromance, watch Shut Up: Flower Boy Band (2012).

...fills the Lee Seung Gi sized whole in your heart while he's off in the military, watch King2Hearts (2012).