Chopsticks and Apple Pie

As I mentioned in my last post, Serena has a zeal for American trivia that is almost unmatched even by the messiah himself, Alex Trebek. Much like a four year old contemplating the meaning of life with one simple word repeated ad nauseum, "why? why? why?".... Serena takes this golden opportunity to pick my brain. She has her own bona fide personal American and she takes full advantage of her chance to consume vital information from me.

The other day at lunch, she sat down and whipped out this book written in Chinese and filled with "facts" about the U.S. and its people. As I sat there hungrily and desperately slurping at noodles that kept slipping off my chopsticks and plunging back into my bowl, Serena sat staring earnestly at this book. Then, out of nowhere came the most bizarre line of questioning I've ever heard in my life. As they came at me, one after another, I myself began to question why we do what we do. The conversation went something like this:

Serena: Do you like apple pie?

Me: Yes, very much.

Serena: Do you make it?

Me: No, I don't know how, but my grandma makes really good apple pie.

Serena: Do you like pumpkin pie?

Me: Yes I like that too.

Serena: Which do you like better?

Me: I guess I like them both the same.

Serena: What holiday do you use pumpkins for?

Me: Halloween.

Serena: What do you do with them?

Me: We carve faces in them, hollow out the inside and then light a candle and put it inside.

Serena: Why do you do that?

Me: Uh, actually, I don't really know.

Serena: What holiday do you eat turkey?

Me: Thanksgiving.

Serena: Are you allowed to eat turkey on any other day?

Me: Oh yes, anytime.

Serena: Why do you celebrate Christmas?

Me: Uh, well for some its about the birth of Jesus.

Serena: Jeh-zoos?

Me: Yeah. And for others its just about family.

Serena. And you put a tree in your house?

Me: Yeah, and we decorate it.

Serena: Why do you do that? Is it big?

Me: Uh, I don't really know. Yeah, some are big, some are small. Any size, I guess.

Serena: Do you know the Boston Tea Party?

Me: Yes, its part of our history.

Serena: How many people were there?

Me: Uh, I honestly don't know.

By the end of this conversation, I looked down at the bowl of noodles, still just as full as when I started, my stomach grumbling and my hand cramped and thought, "Well I guess relatively speaking, chopsticks really aren't all that weird."