Silly Americans

“Chinese people are great, Momma.  And we are just silly.”

Ezra announced earlier this year that he is going to go to college in China and then live in Argentina, so I wasn’t entirely surprised to hear of his admiration for the Chinese.  But I was surprised to hear him call Americans silly.

“Why are we silly?”

“Because Chinese people do everything without wasting any electricity and we waste so much energy.”

He was impressed with the Yin Yu Tang House at the Peabody Essex Museum this morning.  He was amazed at how they used sunlight, and wood, and wind, and muscle power, and creative architecture to meet all of the needs of enormous families.

“They’re just so good at taking care of the environment.”

I didn’t have it in me to explain more recent developments in The Middle Kingdom, or its current environmental record.  So I let it go with, “Maybe you could help us by watching less TV.”

He wasn’t that concerned with helping, though, because he went right home and watched an episode of Sponge Bob in Spanish.  (That counts as foreign language study, right?)

With Ezra’s love of foreign cultures and Zach’s love of foreign languages, I don’t think I have a very good chance of keeping them close to home for long. Still, I haven’t given up all hope.  Any strategies to stifle these loves would be much appreciated.