Anyone Here from Germany?

[MIGrandma]

My granddaughter will be going to Germany next month, as a student exchange, for 2 weeks. She would like to take gifts to her host family but has no idea what kinds of American or Michigan foods, snacks, treats, etc. she should take for them. Does anyone have any ideas?

 

[NHdisneylover]

I am American but living in germany now.
Common American candies that are not around in Germany include:
Malted milk balls
peanut butter cups (or anything with peanut butter really--though jarred peanut butter is available everywhere now)
caramel corn (like cracker jacks)
anything with maple flavouring
sweet tarts
nerds
powdered kool aid
fun dip
spree
life savers
tootsie rolls and tootsie pops

also, popcorn here is eaten sweetened, not with butter and salt. A few bag of microwave American style popcorn would be fun.

I she is decent cook, have her bring a box of brown sugar (German brown sugar is not the same) and a bag of butterscotch chips and bake tollhouse bars with them (using butterscotch--another novelty here, instead of chocolate). I get asked to bring those to every gathering. Even when I run out of butterscotch and have to use chocolate people want them as the brown sugar taste is so different ( I can buy brown sugar at a specialty store).

Oh--and send some Macinaw Island fudge I have not seen fudge here either.

ETA--if girl scout cookies are out before she leaves a couple of boxes would be fun. They are so uniquely American. Also, I would not try to send any "nicer" chocolates--quite frankly ours do not even compare. Stick with the fun, novelty of different things.

 

[MIGrandma]

Thank you so much for your suggestions, I will pass them on to my granddaughter. I do know she won't be taking any Mackinaw Island fudge, as when her German exchange student stayed 2 weeks with her in the fall she and her family took him to Mackinaw and he did not like the fudge. He said it was too sweet. She will be staying with him and his family.

I love the idea of taking brown sugar and butterscotch chips and making tollhouse bars! She does like to bake so that would be a different idea!

Never thought of Girl Scout cookies, that's a good one too! And I agree with you about our "nicer chocolate." He brought delicious German chocolate when he came over, there is nothing she could take to him that would be better that's for sure!

Thank you again, I appreciate all your help.

 

[NHdisneylover]

Oh you are welcome. If I think of anything else easy to take i will come post again. i hope your granddaughter has a nice trip. The weather is a bit dreary here this time of year, but it is a lovely country all year round anyway.

 

[elgerber]

My brother in law and family live in Germany and we got my neice a HUGE box of nerds every year for Christmas. She loves them and cannot get them there!

 

[AshleyW]

I stayed in Germany for awhile in high school, and I brought some normal American candy.. BUT, I also brought a book on Iowa. I found it at Barnes & Noble, and it was a really great coffee table book - huge, full paged color pictures and some short blurbs. It showed Kalona (an Amish town), Tama (a native american reservation) and a bunch of really neat stuff. My host parents LOVED it! I also brought the kids (2 teenagers) an Iowa Hawkeye tshirt. My host sister actually just e-mailed me a couple weeks ago and asked me to send her another because hers is completely worn out.

Maybe she could find a similar book about Michigan? Other than that, I agree about the novelty candy, like Nerds, Smarties or Sweet tarts.

 

[MelanieC]

I was born there - Unfortunately I can't answer any of your questions since I left when I was a few months old

 

[bavaria]

Is the host family American or German?

Tastes do vary widely and I will be honest if you don't mind. NHDisneylover discovered for instance that peanuts are to our tastebuds a savoury, not a sweet. Very few chocolates have peanuts as a result and they are often not to people's liking. Peanut butter is more common now in the stores but many people still don't understand it; almonds and hazelnuts are the 'sweet' nuts here for chocolates.

And as you learned, we have a different preference for sweet things and find some things too sweet. Just different tastes.

I would bring something specific to your home for instance - even a nice coffeetable book would be enjoyed, as the scenery can be very different. That is also easier and safer to pack. Or if you are from the Detroit area then maybe a history book like about Henry Ford, or something from the museum there. My friend from Detroit always has interesting things like that to show me.

Ironically, the one thing that I always like to buy in Michigan when I am in the western part of the state is Julius Meinl coffee which is from Vienna! (Not that I would suggest that, but I was so surprised to see it sold there)

Another suggestion would be local chocolate or treats. A very nice former poster and her husband once gave me a very large gift basket of local Michigan chocolate and treats and that was very much appreciated. If I recall, it was a local chocolate company and a local nut company. But again I would try and avoid the peanut as sweet, and the fudge.

And I never developed a taste for any of those other candies people listed; again, not a criticism, just different tastebuds from what is the norm for us. Same for anything maple flavoured.

(I usually agree with NHDisneylover on most things, but I guess not today! Hopefully she won't hold that against me)

 

[bavaria]

AshleyW also has some very good advice for you; local clothing (I would avoid anything nationalistic, but from your state/area is definitely popular with teens); there is still the mystique about the various native cultures in North America so anything factual/historical (maybe a book about a tribe native to the area).

 

[MIGrandma]

Ashley, I love your idea of the coffee table book! I have one of old Michigan barns, lots of beautiful scenery in that. Maybe she could find one of different points of interest of the United States, like something with the Statue of Liberty, the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, city scapes, etc. I'll have to suggest that to her. And the shirts idea is great too, either University of Michigan or Michigan State, they might like those. Thanks!

bavaria, the host family is German. I didn't mind your honesty at all, I very much appreciate it! Thank you for your thoughts and I'll pass them along to my granddaughter.

 

[bavaria]

Well if NHDisneylover ever gives me something from her list I will politely nibble at it and thank her heartily for her kind thoughts. It IS after all the though which counts. I will however eat quite a few of the chocolate chip cookies!

We all just have different preferences like how some kids like peanut butter for breakfast and others like Nutella - neither is better or worse, just different, but we still have preferences based on how our taste buds were 'raised'. That is why products from Europe often have different ingredients and flavouring for the American market.

Food is also sometimes more difficult to transport easily so books and clothes or accessories can sometimes be easier to bring along. Accessories can also be good for teens as there is no worry about sizing.

 

[bavaria]

By the way, we have a long thread on flyertalk.com about 'things we bring from Germany to America' and I have suggested that we have a reverse thread too.

It makes for an interesting read as to what people value and which products are different across those markets.

 

[Miz Diz]

I was on a German exchange program when I was in High school. (long time ago). I took the family chocolate covered pecans (I am from the South), a football for the little boy.

I like the coffee table book idea, too.