Funny Thing About Anorexia

Well, today I'm feeling too much. I've been awake for half an hour and I'm afraid I'm bawling. When I woke up with morning, the first thing that hit me was an article from the New Yorker that a dear friend sent me about just home important this election year really is, and then I watched a video of a man who took his quadriplegic son on the Iron Man Triathalon, and finally, there's just so much in the world and so many words and I'm still shaking.

So, in an effort to allay the whatever it is, i think i'll try on some humor.

First of all, let me tell you that the pieces of literature which are chosen to help teach young Korean kids to read are interesting, if only for their subject matter, and it's probably a good thing that full comprehension is not really possible.

The most recent article we're reading is about diets and anorexia. I swear to god, and these Korean kids are barely into middle school. How do you explain anorexia in English to a child that age that actually speaks English, much less a child who only barely has a concept of the English language. (Admittedly, you need a degree in psychology to even come close to understanding it anyway... it's well beyond my ken, at any rate.)

Well, part of the unit is an article about Nicole Richie, one of the Olsen twins and Lindsay Lohan and that they have all admitted to a battle with anorexia (one quick note here: that might be the only time ever that those names appear in this blog--never say never I guess). The article says something to the effect of: Skinny celebrities are setting dangerous trends. The skinny American celebrities have all confessed to having suffered from anorexia.... etc.

Well, one of the Comprehension Questions was:

What do the skinny celebrities suffer from?

One of my kids put this down and goes, "Teacher! Teacher! Teacher!" and I had to work very hard to keep a straight face and tell him that while his answer was not technically correct, it was in a sense... and also very funny.

His answer:

The United States.