I think my sister was onto something when she gave me this little jade color elephant last year. While it's not the real deal, I still like to believe that it holds the jade stone's spiritual virtues of wisdom, balance, and peace (yes, I'm totally into that stuff, don't judge). Ancient Asian beliefs and practices are completely fascinating to me and luckily I won't' be at a loss for places to explore them while living here. For example, yesterday I met with a friend of a friend for lunch and she took me to a semi-open air cafeteria behind a Buddhist temple. We ate surrounded by words of peace while listening to the chants of devotees inside. It was beautiful...and delicious. Can't wait to discover more gems like that.