Don't Lose Your Marbles

   The translation didn't exactly come through when I tried to explain. I think they thought I had "lost my marbles." This stack if marbles would take three weeks to use and it would make 6 million marbles.

   I asked if there was a drop in sales as less and less youngins' play marbles like the good old days. Apparently, with the loss of ability to import marbles (much cheaper marbles in China) the government released television shows and programs to promote traditional games. Therefore, there is a need for "the beautiful play marbles" and the "industrial ones" (think the little balls you hear in aerosol cans) but they don't have the gas capacity to make more. When they expanded (with the lack of imports and the marble propaganda in school) the government didn't help with more gas for them to operate the ovens to melt the marbles at 1400 degrees C. Therefore, the can only make what they can make with the clear crystal one week and the cores mixture of all different glasses the next. If they mix the two it would weaken the marbles.

P.S. It is worth noting that I got to play marbles with "the marble boss" as I liked to call him.  This guy gave us a tour and he was game to show me the skills that only a man that makes marbles could possess.