Different Sisters, Different Attention

Cha Goh-woon

Our family meetings are always enjoyable because so many people of different ages get to meet, thanks to our mother's and father's siblings, a total of eleven. From all the relatives that branch out from these eleven sisters and brothers, there has been two favorites of all family members. They are our youngest cousins, Jee-in, who is four and Jung-min who is two. They are always the center of attention, but if you get a closer look, you'll see that although they're sisters, my cousins Jee-in and Jung-min each have a very different way in getting other people's attention.

Their different ways of expressing their emotions bring a difference in the people's attention. Jee-in is the type that makes people pay attention to her. She is on the loud side and you'll be able to find her easily because there would be a squeal from her here and a squeal from her over there. When she cries, she has this big wail which tells everybody in the house that their beloved cousin has fallen down or was in a bad mood. Her laughs, by the way are very bright and also loud which is accompanied by big gestures. It makes everybody around her laugh with her. Jung-min on the other hand, is the kind that seems to avoid people from paying attention to her. You would hardly be able to find her because she's so quiet and also very small for her age. When she cries, she hardly makes a sound. For heaven's sake, she's just two years old but she just lets the tears fall down from her face and keeps herself from making a sound. As for her laughs, she doesn't laugh very much, so once she does, oohs and aahs come out from the family audience. However it's a shy one and the most surprising part of it is that she covers her mouth when she does it as to hide her laugh. Jee-in and Jung-min seem like girls from a totally different family when it comes to their cries and laughs.

Other than the ways of expressing their emotions, their attitudes around people allow different kinds of attention. Jee-in is very social and active. She always has enough hugs and kisses for everybody. She runs from one person to another getting acquainted with new members and jumps into anybody's lap and entertains them. Jung-min on the other hand is on the shy side. She shows a sign of unwelcome to unfamiliar people with a frown or turns her face away from them. She hardly goes near a new member and she is totally indifferent of them. But this doesn't mean she is always alone. She shows loyalty to just one person - excluding her parents - my grandmother. Jung-min follows her wherever she goes and breaks into tears when they have to part. A lot of the family members try to win her affection but always in vain Therefore, while Jee-in is acquainted with almost everybody in the family, we doubt that there is hardly anyone Jung-min knows in person other than our grandmother.

Besides their ways of expression and their attitudes around people, Jee-in and Jung-min's way of showing their talents is another difference between these two girls. Jee-in is loud and very entertaining. She has a large repertory of songs and dances, and doesn't show the least bit of shyness while showing it. When she does puts on her show, she asks everybody to pay total attention to her. If there is a person, not watching her, her songs would get louder and her dances wilder. Jung-min, however doesn't show off her talents that much. We do know that she has learned a few many songs but she is reluctant to sing them in front of a large number of people. She sometimes sings along with her big sister, although we can only tell by the movement of her mouth since Jee-in's voice is relatively very loud to let any other voice through. When she does sing by herself, only possible with the request from her loving grandmother, they are usually quiet songs which she hardly sings to the end. She gets a lot of attention once she does sing because it's something you can't get to see every day. So sometimes, you may see a larger audience watching Jung-min's performance than Jee-in's wide-variety show.

Jee-in and Jung-min cry differently, laugh differently and show a totally contrasting attitude in front of people, whether they're just with them or entertaining them. Jee-in makes the people pay attention to her and Jung-min makes the people feel that they should pay attention if they want to acknowledge her presence at all. These two girls, because of their differences make the family meetings more interesting.