A British Spy 4

"Henry Lee."
"It could very well be a Chinese name. Are you sure you are not Chinese?"
"No Pure Korean-American," Gabriel answered.
"And what does it mean to be Korean-American, Mr. Lee, if I may ask?" asked Miss Grace Chang.
"To be stuck between a rock and a hard place."
"Perhaps you refer to being stuck between Japan and China."

Gabriel took a sip of the wine. It was very delicious.

"You have excellent taste," he said.
"I have many tastes. This is the first time I've been on a blind date. I wanted to try something American for once."
"I hope I haven't shocked you."
"Not at all Mr. Lee. You were educated at Yale, I believe. Isn't that a haven for the WASPS and the Jews?"
"Not really. You shouldn't really think of universities in that manner. They are where Americans gain a sense of class."
"Is that so, Mr. Lee. So Americans now have a sense of class?"
"Yes."
"And how is that?"
"Well, an American goes to Yale and he wears it on himself as if it were the same thing as class. They are a Yaley from the Upper East Side or a Harvardite from..."
"What else gives Americans class?"
"Political Correctness."
"But you don't believe in all that."
"Not at all. I'm just me."
"You are funny, Mr.Lee. Very funny."

"Well, I hope I don't offend you at all but I have to write a paper on Michael Porter's Competitive Advantage. It's supposed to be one of those "critical" thinking papers for HBS. Can you give me any suggestions?"
"Well. Tariffs. How do you go into a country with high-tariffs with a mass-produced product. How do you compete with the local market?"
"Why would a consumer choose the much-higher priced American brand over the local brand when the quality is about the same?"
"Yes."
"And what is your answer?"
"You have to market it as a unique, well-differentiated product in the foreign country."
"You mean, you have to fool the consumer. Is that your logic?"
"You could make modifications to the product without incurring too much cost."
"What else?"
"Monopolies. What do you do when you create a product that is so revolutionary and well-made that it has no competition?"
"Is that a possibility?"
"Microsoft Windows."
"Windows, it's rather old-fashioned."
"It wasn't when it was created."
"But it was all the work that Bill Gates did as a businessman that made it a monopoly."
"Exactly."
"Monopolies are illegal."
"Not if they are deemed favorable to the business environment."
"So if Bill Gates had kept on innovating Windows the same way that Apple continually innovates itself..."
"But monopolies face huge problems in Europe and Asia. Intellectual property laws, threat to the mass market."
"Google has gotten favorable responses in Europe."
"That may change in the future."
"Any more suggestions?"
"He really does not address the problems of international business and politics."
"As we all know, he's a micro-economic analyst."
"That's his problem. Everything is interconnected in the world of international politics and economics. You do one good thing for one segment of business and you screw over another segment."
"I like your frank language. Is it a Korean custom?"
"Fucking is a Korean custom," Gabriel chanced.
"It's a custom "more honored in the breach." "

They both began to laugh. Gabriel missed the elegance of Chinese women. They were so fiercely intelligent and sensitive. As he was laughing though, he wondered what Francis thought about this arrangement. He wondered if he had really fallen in love with her or if he was just acting.