My Friend Grace Hwang
I have a friend named Jung Hyun (Grace) Hwang. We first met in middle school. I knew from the very first moment that she was a very friendly and approachable person. I still remember vividly as it had such a great impact. Unlike the other students who were rather shy and timid, Grace was the first one to come up to me and say hi. She also started calling me "Thailand Girl" because I had just moved back to Korea from Thailand. Our friendship began then.
Grace is tall, just like me. When people see us together, they sometimes ask if we are twins or sisters. She used to wear glasses, but now she tends to wear contact lenses. You know you are really close when you have sleepovers with your friend and you finally get to see her without her contact lenses. When we first met, it was when the Korean middle schools had restrictions on the students' hair length and style. Grace had short, dark hair then, but now she has very long hair. Maybe this is another reason why people tend to think we look alike. Her mother has a hairdresser's license, so Grace gets her hair done constantly. Sometimes she has brown, curly hair, and then at other times, she has reddish straight hair. It is always fun to try and guess how she has changed the look of her hair.
I love Grace because she always has a smile on her face which brightens up the whole atmosphere. She is just like the sun. Her eyes make a crescent moon shape when it folds, and her mouth draws a half moon with her braces peeking through. She can be very cute. No one would think she is that tall if they just know her face.
Grace is also the funniest person you can be around. In a way, she is very silly and she will not stop making funny faces or comments. I find myself always laughing when I am with her. With her personality, she can become friends with anyone. She also has a very funny laugh which draws everyone's attention when we are outside. Everyone then stares at us to see who it is that has such a strange laugh. On the days we meet up to hang out, the moment I spot her she will start dancing and make funny gestures from the opposite side of the crosswalk. It does make me embarrassed sometimes with all the people around, but I can't help bursting into true laughter.
My friend is very talented. Grace told me she used to be a part of the musical crew when she was in elementary school. It is not surprising at all when you hear her sing and dance. She is just so full of energy and enthusiasm that she can turn any kind of music she hears into a dance. It can either be really impressive or just hilarious. Grace is a great singer as well. She has this musical groove that not everyone possesses, and she can really sing. When we go to the karaoke together, she grabs the microphone before anyone else does, and she sings a song which impresses everyone. She can hit the high notes without much difficulty, and she has these diverse emotions which she delivers through the lyrics depending on the genre of music.
Grace loves to eat. She is often on the internet, looking up nice, famous restaurants for us to go together. She is never picky when it comes to eating, and I've tried a lot of great dishes thanks to her. It's been nearly eight years since I've known her, and from the very beginning she has been telling me that she is on a diet, but she always seems to fail because she simply loves eating.
While people who don't know Grace very well may assume that she is just a funny person, she actually has a very warm and sincere heart. As an animal lover, Grace has a pet dog named Jung Nam. Apparently, he got his name from Grace (Jung Hyun) and her older brother (Jung Ho). I heard that Jung Nam is now 15 years old. Grace worries about him every time. I can just feel her compassionate heart each time she mentions him. Moreover, when I have issues to discuss with her, she puts on a serious face and listens very attentively. It's almost as if she becomes a completely different person, but it really helps to think that she is truly paying attention to what I have to say. Not only this, she would then give very constructive advice about the shared problem. There was time when I was going through some hard days for personal reasons. I shared this with her immediately, and hearing this, she cried with me. The two of us were sitting in the café, just sobbing and telling each other to stop crying. We must have looked very silly in other people's eyes. But to me, she was offering me the one thing I most needed: an empathetic heart. After all, she is my best friend.
No comments:
Post a Comment