Despite the innumerable benefits of living abroad and the rich experience of new foods, cultures and lifestyles, the thrill of a gift box from family cannot be described.  As time passes the requests have changed, but the comfort foods of Girl Scout cookies and organic macaroni and cheese still count for something to the teenager in our family.

The snap shot above shows the range of contents in a recent box.  I had requested chopsticks (something I strangely can’t seem to find in Southern India) from a family friend, leaving the specifics of the type up to them.  I think I may have used the adjective “fun”, but I didn’t specify the material, or even whether I wanted Chinese or Japanese styles.  Basically there are some foods that I just want to eat with chopsticks.  It’s a comfort thing.

When I began pulling items from the package and saw the a clear flat plastic box of color my first thought was that I hadn’t asked for colored pencils, but they would come in handy.  Then I realized they were my chopsticks!  Mix and match, delicious colors filling me with the familiar sense of well-being of a brand new box of crayons.

They made me smile.

So when I came across this video, I couldn’t help think of my chopsticks, which I haven’t used in a while.  I think stir fry will be on the menu tonight.