Olive oil and chopsticks

I love my life. It's unique, its full of perks and quirks. I mean, how often do YOU eat salad with chopsticks? Lately, we seem to be eating a lot of Chinese food (no clue why...), and I am loving it. I absolutely LOVE to try to eat anything with chopsticks. Seeing as my brother grunts and grumbles when I just use them randomly, I enjoy it ever so much more when we make Chinese food, seeing as it gives me a valid reason to play around with our "stolen" chopsticks--they used to give you wooden chopsticks with your meal at Catalan/Chinese restaurants here (never to be confused with "Chinese" restaurants, because I am still doubtful about the actual percentage of recipes and flavors here that are still untainted by the er... unique catalan taste), and, it is just like taking sugar packets: if they are just going to throw them away once you walk out the door, I would much rather walk out of the door with a new pair of chopsticks :D

As the never-ending college hunt goes on (you'd think that one month after the SAT would be... relatively calmer. BUT NO!), my parents are already giving me tips and pointers about life. Interesting how that works. I wonder if this upcoming year will be full of "life tips when you leave." Probably. Sounds amusing :) One of the most painful realizations that they want me to come to terms with is the fact that olive oil is NOT a staple food in the States. Silly people! How can you NOT have olive oil as your base ingredient for... everything!?! Food? Homemade beauty recipes? Ear infections? (Yes, we actually know of a full-fledged doctor telling a friend to "rub some olive oil on it" when her little daughter had a bad ear infection. Forget drugs or painkillers! Olive oil, pure and simple!) After trying to wean myself from this precious liquid--without much success, rather, I seem to be increasingly dependent on it--I have recognized and put into words one of those undeniable truths that people become famous for:

Olive oil is more than a staple food. It's a way of life!

I am not as brave as a friend of mine who managed to cut herself off from it when they moved back to the States last year. And I am not strong enough to deceive myself into believing it ever existed. So, as much as I love Ramen, I have to be true to my heart (gotta love those Disney values) and realize that olive oil will always hold a special place in my heart.

PS-- For those of you who are wondering why in the world olive oil is such a big deal, and want to tell me that "it's not like you can't get it here in the States", you should come visit me. You will see just how MUCH I use. I am a simple MK after all, and right now, I'm tearing myself apart between leaving on as little as possible in college and actually living with style (culinary style. "Fashion" itself hardly exists in my dictionary. Unless, of course, there is a 'NOT' of some sort between me and "fashion": "Annalisa does NOT follow fashions," for example)