Anyway. Last week Mr S. comes home to tell me that one of the guys in his group went to the China office and brought everyone in the group back presents. Some were t-shirts. And who doesn't love hard to get company tee's? I know I do. But, he also said the co-worker brought him this really nice carved jade pencil holder. I didn't think much about it at the time. Other than "wow - that was really nice of the guy". Now what am I going to have to do to reciprocate the kindness. Cookies? Presents? What?
Mr S. wanted to leave it at work to show the guy his appreciation for him being so considerate. But finally Mr S. brought the pencil holder home.
When Mr S. had described the item to me I wasn't sure if he meant jade in color or what. But when he took the pencil holder out of the box he was sort of gushing about it. It was very pretty after all. As soon as I held it though, I turned to Mr S. and said "you know this is plastic. Right"?
Mr S. looks at me with a tilted head and taps the item. Mr S. proclaims "no - its jade"
I said "baby - if this was really jade, that would cost about a hundred thousand dollars. No one is that nice.".
He looks at the pencil holder again and starts examining it. He finally says "well - I thought it was a super nice gift, so I asked him about it. Co-worker said it was Chinese jade. And that it was much softer and easier to carve than other jade".
Me - "Baby - I can see the injection mold lines. Is that what they are calling plastic in China now? Chinese Jade"? It is still very nice of the guy to think about the people in your group - and I think co-worker thinks it is jade, but that is plastic".
Anyway - I think cookies will do the trick to repay the guys kindness.
According to the book of man
ReplyDelete"Jade should be handled as mush as possible; the natural oils from your skin will enhance the stone's luster. It can be washed in soap and warm water; if the water's too hot, it was cause the jade to crack. To test for genuineness, apply a few drops of water to the stone. If it doesn't run off, it's the real thing"
It's like how they used to test for witches. If you throw it in hot water and it breaks then its real and if it survives then you can give it to someone else and tell them that it's a special kind of jade.
The funny thing is co-worker is Asian. Both his first and last name start with X's. Not Asian American. Here on a visa - Asian.
ReplyDeleteSo - I wouldn't have thought there would be any lost in translation errors.
But - thanks for the witch test tip. I shall test everything in this new fashion!
"Chinese jade" might be a great marketing strategy, the way "Chilean sea bass" was an improvement on "Patagonian toothfish."
ReplyDeletePresentation be damned, nobody wants to pay $30 for a serving of toothfish.
"Presentation be damned, nobody wants to pay $30 for a serving of toothfish."
ReplyDeleteI think some people do.
Did you know more expensive placebos work better?
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/MindMoodNews/story?id=4386984&page=1