Ideas for gifts for my German host family?

Question

I will be living in Germany from September 08 - July 09 as part of the Congress Bundestag Youth Exchange program through AFS. I have a few ideas of what to get my host family, but I could use more. I am looking for most American items, or even more region specific [PA]. Other creative ideas are appreciated!

My family consists of:

Britta [hostmom]: 43 years old, is a housewife, likes to cook

Burkhard [hostdad]: 44 years old, works for a earth construction company

Julia: 19 years old, loves horses, cooking, and peanut butter

Johanna: 18 years old

Jasmin: 16 years old, coming to US [should I worry about a gift for her?]

Jana: 14 years old

Janina: 5 years old

They live in Ebersdorf bei Bremervörde in Niedersachsen, Germany. They have 4 horses, 3 cats, 3 dogs, chickens and rabbits.

As you see, I don't really know too much about my family, so I was hoping to get some age appropriate gifts from the US. Thanks so much! Oh yeah, and price range is about $20-$30 each.

Answer 1

Even though the list above sounds sweet: Brownie mixes, microwave popcorn, marshmallows, cake mixes, baking soda, brown sugar and chocolate chips are available in any German supermarket, I'm afraid. Globalisation at its best.

German housewives like your hostmom (stay-at-home mom in a rural area) mostly wrinkle their noses at ready-made cake mixes and every single one of them knows how to make home-made brownies; home-made is the done thing for cakes and cookies. If there's one thing German women can do, it's baking! Especially taking into consideration the fact that they come from Bremervörde (rural area) and seem to live on a small farm. :)

Taking those ingredients will unnecessarily stuff your suitcase and buying them in German will probably be even cheaper.

For your hostmom, take a cookbook with typically American recipes (preferably from your region) instead of bringing ingredients.

You could bring one for Julia as well, but as she loves horses, how about bringing her a (stereotypical, I know - but not in Germany!) cowboy hat? Or any equipment to use when riding.

You don't know about others'  hobbies, so that's tricky. Burkhard would appreciate a book as well, I suppose - American history or culture always goes down well here. :)

If you can find out where Jasmin will be staying in the US, try to get her some kind of "guidebook"-ish thing for that region.

Johanna and Jana (as you know so little about them) would definitely love a DVD each. Try to find out what they like and get your hands on a season that hasn't been aired in Germany yet (easy, they usually lag behind at least one season) or a series that is unknown here. "Gossip Girl", for Jana, will be great - series will air here in 2009. Johanna.... is older, so think about your favourite series at the moment.

Hope that at least gives you a start. :)

Answer 2

In Germany it is a good convention to give the housewife a bouquet of flowers not more than 20 Euros and that is it --- but it is also a good convention that you write a letter when you are at home again home much you like it and that you will come back. And at least for 3 years you have to sent them a birthday card and Greetings for Christmas and don`t forget one!!! (Not an e-mail a real letter at least one page long!!!).

They don`t want your money --- they want you!!!

Greetings from Hamburg

Heinz

Answer 3

that's super cool! Try stuff from America so they can see things from the USA! Maybe a horse shirt for Julia that  says Julia loves horses, (you can make it on the internet) Janina some candy and a little toy like a doll or something! Jana some perfume or cheap jewellery, Johana Idk cause I don't know if that's a girl or boy, Burk- try a mug with the the words USA or something on it. Britta- a pretty apron or nice earrings?

Answer 4

I like the recipe idea for Britta, but make sure to bring measuring cups, too.

I veto the book idea for Burkhard, because it seems unlikely that he will speak English, and if he does, it probably won't be very good.  Since you are from Pennsylvania, maybe you could bring him a beer glass from Rolling Rock or Yuengling or something?  A Steelers t-shirt?

For Julia, maybe something peanutty, but not peanut butter?  Reese's cups, etc.  I second the "bring PB for yourself" thing.

For Johanna and Jana, since you don't really know much about them, I also agree with the "tourist kitsch from your area."  Maybe you could bring them t-shirts with your high school's logo or the logo of a local university?  German schools typically don't have logo t-shirts, so it's a really popular thing for exchange students to bring back from an exchange year, and establishes them as sort of trendy (just like wearing stuff from European universities is sort of trendy here).  They will probably speak at least some English, so consider bringing them some copies of magazines like People or fashion magazines.  I taught at a girls' Gymnasium for a while and my students loved looking at American magazines.  

For Janina, how about your favorite toy from when you were 5?  A lot of (Germanized) American games are available, but not all of them.  Just getting an Ami version would be super cool for her, even if she's got the German one already.

For the family in general, consider bringing a nice book of photos of Pennsylvania.  Someone at the local book store will probably have some ideas for good ones.  If you're thinking of bringing food, Oreos, Doritos, Pop Tarts, and Old El Paso dinner kits are huge treats.

Hope this helps, and have a good Austauschjahr!

Answer 5

Sounds like you´ll have an awesome host family!  My recommendations are all about food... people really enjoy it and it doesn´t clutter up the house!

I would recommend bringing lots of brownie mixes, some microwave popcorn (your favorite kind), and marshmallows to make smores (Germans grill a lot, so you can help with dessert! Use ¨Keks¨ instead of graham crackers, and some good German chocolate).  Bring a cake mix or two, some baking soda and packed brown sugar, and chocolate chips (for chocolate chip cookies!)  Also bring lots of recipes for anything you make at home... any type of cookies, casseroles, etc. is usually not made in Germany, and your host mom will probably appreciate you teaching her how to make some of these things!

German uses the metric system, but don´t worry about it too much.  A lot of measurements don´t have to be as exact as you might think from the recipe.  Also, the following website is REALLY useful for conversions: http://www.convert-me.com/en/convert/coo...

Good luck!  You´re going to have an amazing experience.  Email if you have any questions about Germany!

Answer 6

Britta [hostmom]:something fun and sweet. europe has amazing chocolate, so maybe a fondue set? :)

http://www.foodnetworkstore.com/p-128932...

Burkhard [hostdad]: a tool set! :)

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=pr...

Julia: 19 years old, loves horses, cooking, and peanut butter

Johanna: maybe a pretty dress..

like this:

http://www.wetseal.com/catalog/product.j...

Jasmin: yeah get her a gift-

maybe a VS pink giftcard or this shirt:

http://www2.victoriassecret.com/commerce...

Jana: around this ages girls usually start experimenting with make, so some suttle make-up is good.

http://sephora.com/browse/product.jhtml?...

http://sephora.com/browse/product.jhtml?...

http://sephora.com/browse/product.jhtml?...

http://sephora.com/browse/product.jhtml?...

clear bag-teal :)

Janina:a build-a-bear :)

http://www.buildabear.com/shop/productde...

hope i helped!

(trust me; i live in germany (currently visiting the us)i would love to get these gifts!!!)

Betsy:

in germany we make cookies all the time o_o

Answer 7

To MG: Your ideas are very good.

But American DVDs and videos will never run on German players!

The rerason therefore is that Europe have got the PAL system and the USA have the NTSC system plus country codes are also different. Europe have code 2 and USA have code 1.

So you might think of something else then. Can't you find out what hobby any of Johanna, Jana and Janina have? Try to write a letter, email will do, and find out. You still have time left.

Good luck and a lot of fun in Germany.

Answer 8

Oh man this brings back memories.  I was an exchange student to Germany as well. I was 17, I am now 34.  You'll love it by the way.  One piece of advice is get a journal and write daily.  You will forget the little details and having them written down will be great for you to go back and reminisce.

To your question:

Gifts for the family

get t-shirts or ball caps from your area- touristy stuff for the kids.

You could do a generic gift to both of the adults (give as a couple-gift) a nice picture frame for their family photo, something like that.

The five year old would probably love a build-a-bear, especially made by you.

Bring them American made cookies, or peanut brittle or something edible in a tin.

If I were you, I'd bring a jar of peanut butter, if not just for the girl who likes it but for yourself too (especially if YOU like PB)was hard pressed to find it in the little village stores where I lived (but that was a while ago...so it may be different now)