oh the convenience

After what seemed like forever, it's finally summer in Seoul. With the warm weather, comes the plastic chairs and tables flooding the streets. All of the popular convenient stores such as, 711, GS25, Buy the Way, and Family Mart have plastic tables and chairs outside of their storefronts. Not only do the stores bust out the plastic, but most of the restaurants offer outdoor seating as well.

Every weekend, I find myself parked in front of the 711 that is half a block away from my apartment. A family runs the 711 near my place and they could not be any sweeter. We have taught the woman a few English phrases, and she always asks about our day and what we are doing. "See you tomorrow!" she says, as we leave.

My favorite part of the weekend: grabbing a cold canned coffee, and sitting in the neon green chairs and recapping the previous blurred night. Simple, I know, but sometimes there is nothing better.

Some nights when I'm not in the mood to hit the bars or drag myself to Hongdae, you can usually find me and a group of foreigners sitting outside of the 711, drinking beers and soju. As long as you keep buying, you can sit there as long as you please. What's not to like?

Best part is, if you stay all night you are only a few steps away from drunk munchies like ramen (there's hot water available so you can eat on the run) or squid chips. oohhhh yaaaa!