Health and the Arts

This week our middle schoolers made class newspapers. My 6th graders are especially interesting writers. Jenny, editor of the health page, wrote an article entitled "Good Health for Weaning," while Erica, our entertainment writer, said of the main character in a French film: "He wanted to save the Jews from deplumation." Although I advised against the weaning and the deplumation, they were insistent. Weaning - as everyone knows - is synonymous with the word "reason" (we finally arrived at the title "Reasons for Good Health." Aha.) and deplumation means to send someone or something out of your country. In very rare instances we refer to this as "deportation."

I might not ever become a successful cook in Korea. Tonight I made a stir-fry with pork, broccoli, mushrooms, onions and garlic, topped with a sauce that I've made at least 5 times in the last several months. Something went wrong, because it was almost the worst thing I've ever tasted. This state of affairs was further enhanced by the piece of pork bone I managed to consume. I haven't cooked an edible meal in 2 weeks.