Diplomatic begging

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I've been working on getting donations for our gifts to the Chinese schools. So far I've contacted the state house, the Hot Springs Department of Tourism, The Arkansas Heritage Society, a couple of places in D.C., Disney (what could be more American), an my senator. The smaller the place is, the more willing they seem to be to donate. Today I got a sack of pens and arkansas shaped notepads from the Heritage Society (Thanks Mrs. Whitfield!). They look great.

Susie got some t-shirts from LRSD today. I am hoping we can get some of those postcards with the picture of LRSD on them. The school is so beautiful. I think that would be something they would be interested in.

I am hoping that I can come up with a few gifts that are more generally U.S. and not so specific to Arkansas. So far I've struck out with D.C. They aren't a state, so they don't have the funding to donate such items (!). Also, according to the federal government's website and email inquiry, there is no appropriate department for such things. Isn't that nice? No agency for promoting grassroots cultural exchange and understanding. Nice.

I'll keep going though. I'm good at this kind of begging. I'm actually getting a little worried about having to carry all this stuff in my luggage. Hopefully I'll be able to split it up with someone.

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