Gift Ideas for Americans in Europe
After gobs of requests for the perfect gift to send to Americans and Canadians heading off to start a life in Europe, I’m here to dish out the goods… err make it easier for all of you hunting for the perfect goods to send to your expat buds and overseas friends. My good pal, Katie (an American expat holding down the fort in Berlin), helped me brainstorm the items we’d love, love, love to find in our mailboxes in Germany. Please feel free to chime in on anything we’ve forgotten.
For the kitchen
- Measuring cups – Most Europeans measure ingredients by weight.
- Peanut butter cups – I think I mentioned these treats at least a hundred times on Making This Home before Martin and I got back to the US.
- Beef jerky for the guys
- Dried ranch dressing packs
- Poptarts or other packaged food - while an orange is an orange anywhere, packaged food just ain’t the same. If Poptarts or another packaged food is your pal’s cherry in his fruit cocktail, you’re pretty much sending edible gold. It’s the perfect way to guarantee that you’ll be The Most-Loved Pal for all times.
- Sugary maple syrup like Log Cabin and Mrs. Butterworth – Only pure maple syrup is available with a friendly little Canadian flag on it.
- Vanilla
- Chocolate chips – I prefer to chop my own for this chocolate chip recipe for Germany, though it could be another one of those edible bits of gold for some people.
- Energy bars, soy shakes, & Emergen-C
- Macaroni and cheese – Annie’s is the edible gold at our house in Germany.
- Candy corn – Send this at Halloween, then tell them you want an amazing bar of European chocolate or something from the Christmas markets.
- Mustard and mayo – Okay, we know how weird that sounds. But if your expat craves the classics she grew up with, mustard will seem spicy (at least in Germany), and the mayonnaise will taste super sweet.
- Pie pans – Trying to recreate Thanksgiving with all those new expat friends gets tough without pie, you know. Thank goodness Katie’s grandma saved us last year.
- Salsa and chips – But only if you’re a master packer!
- Peanut butter cups - Yes I know I said that already. They’re just that good.
Note: As far as I know, peanut butter is available at the grocery stores located at the bottom of department stores and at organic grocers throughout most European countries.
For pampering
- Clothes – Good quality clothes cost a fortune, and sometimes some fuzzy Old Navy pjs just really hit the spot.
- Lotions and soaps – The brands are mostly different of course. Sadly, so are the prices – by a lot.
- Yankee candles
- Favorite makeup and cosmetics
- Preferred pain relievers – They’re 10-100 times more expensive in Germany. Talk about a pain!
- Tom’s of Maine toothpaste – We’re junkies. If your friend also is obsessed to the point where the term “toothpaste junkie” doesn’t feel incredibly awkward, send him more Tom’s. Or one of those other brands.
For the family
- Baby stuff - Clothes are especially expensive, though the wooden toys in Europe are amazing. Do a baby swap… for baby stuff, not babies, silly.
- Craft supplies - Art supplies abound, but craft items just aren’t so abundant. Fill a box with pretty papers, punches, glitter, and stamps. Katie and I agree: this gift would probably score more points for a girl than even peanut butter cups.
- Electronics for the guys
- iTunes gift cards - Can you guess how expensive it is to go see a film in English or buy a cd? eeeh And you know we love keeping movies and music digital at our house. Plus mailing a gift card costs less than a buck.
- Books, books, books
- Sunday comics
- Hometown newspaper or favorite magazines – I was drooling over Martin’s science magazine and a Business Week that was a month or two old just because they were in English. Just reading a cereal box in the morning is a challenge when you aren’t fluent. Throw a few things to read in the mail or give gift subscriptions, which have varying international shipping rates. (You’ll have to hunt if you really want a good deal.)
- Pictures from back in the day
- Frames for those pictures in #8
Hope that helps! Now you just need to set the date when you go visit.
Okay all you lovely expats and former expats. Help us out. What did Katie and I forget?
1. Baking soda – in a box! only available in packets here
2. Baking soda toothpaste – my addiction
3. favorite anti-perspirant – mostly just deodorants here, or weak anti-perspirants
4. Taco seasoning packets. I can make my own, but they’re faster.
5. Yellow cake mix. I make my own now, but some ‘dump’ recipes call for them and gosh they’re fluffy!
6. Magazines
**** vanilla extract *** vanilla extract **** vanilla extract!!!!!*****
If you fly over with an extra suitcase (weight issues):
7. canned refried beans. cannot find them here. I use the Turkish triangle dough for a nice tortilla substitute.
oh- Peanut butter is available cheap and looking organic at the Asian markets!
My sister is a Canadian living in the southern United States and there are some things from Canada she just cannot get there. I imagine if she was living in Europe she would want similar things. I always take her Swiss Chalet sauce packets, Tim Hortons coffee and her favourite Nestle and Cadbury chocolate bars and candy. She has subscriptions to some Canadian magazines as well.
I have an amazing recipe for peanut butter cups, if you ever feel adventurous and are so homesick for this treat. If you have peanut butter available, and you have the amazing chocolate, you are set!
Also I am able to get the most delicious Mexican Vanilla from a person from Texas on Ebay who crosses the border. It is so so so so far superior to any other Vanilla around.
Email me if you would like access to either of these delectable treats
Another thing my friend in Switzerland misses is pine nuts or pinion nuts.
And another lady, a German native there asked for root beer flavoring.
I just sent my pie tins to Good Will. I don’t make pies anymore. I wish I could have sent them your way.
Thanks for the list.
~a
I don’t know why, maybe because I’m living vicariously through you, you lucky girl, but this is one of my very favorite posts of yours! I love lists. I love lists that involve things we love! I love what you miss! I love that you live (though not currently – doh!) in Germany. I love that I now can’t wait to send you a care package sometime when you’re least expecting it. I LOVE getting mail that isn’t bills. Like the two handmade cards I won from you – that was like the best mail EVER! I think I’ve said love more times in this comment than on my own blog. HAHA!
Love,
Christy haha!
Great post and awesome ideas. I cherished care packages like that so much. My favorite- Wise white cheddar popcorn and snowball cakes!
Mmm! Thanks for all the yummy additions.
Juliette, we did find a box of baking soda in Berlin. It was in the “American” section one of those first floor grocery stores in a department store. Apparently I’ve already been gone too long because I don’t remember the name of the place. Aren’t those little packets of Baking Pulver just the most annoying thing?
Katie
I forgot to mention that I also love (although I can’t have it often) those Jello No-Bake Cheesecakes. Gosh, are they delish! Also, another thing I brought back to Germany the last time I visited America were some BIG towels. If you buy them here, you can pay anywhere from 15-30 euros per towel. I bought mine from Wal-Mart for 5 bucks a pop. I wrapped them around valuable pottery and picture frames to keep them safe while in my luggage.
I also wanted to add for any expats in Germany that if any of you want to make a graham cracker base to a cheesecake or something, crushed Leibniz Vollkorn Keks work and taste just the same. Smores on the other hand, will require some importing. The Vollkorn Keks just aren’t the same for making them with.
Oh, and if you send any electronics to anyone in Germany, make sure they have a nice little plug adaptor thingy for the sockets.
When I lived in France in my tween years we coveted a few things… one, my mom’s best friend taped tv shows and sent them to us via VHS tape (of course now you can just watch them on Hulu). Two, we loved candy boxes (as the candy is so different). When you received bubblecious, or Now&Later’s, or Jolly ranchers in a care package you were instantly popular with the other American kids!
Hi Katie! I read this post a while back and thought of it today at the supermarket. I was in this supermarket called Real and they have Reese’s peanut butter cups. And american maple sirup and peanut butter. I never go to this supermarket because it’s usually not in the center of the city and I don’t have a car, but there’s one where I work. So when you come back to Germany you know where to look for it! (they’re in the international section of the supermarket)
I used to live in China and would crave lettuce, unfortunately it couldn’t be sent to me.
I came across a recipe for homemade dried ranch dressing packets earlier today and thought since it made your wish list you might be able to make it in Germany.
Ranch Dressing Mix
5 Tablespoons dried minced onions
7 teaspoon parsley flakes
4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
Mix together and store in an air tight container.
For dressing: Mix 2 Tablespoons dry mix with 1 cup mayonnaise and 1 cup buttermilk or sour cream. For dip: Mix 2 Tablespoons dry mix with 2 cups sour cream or kreme fresh.
The link to the original blog is below. (It is not my blog.)
http://heavenlyhomemakers.com/blog/healthy-homemade-salad-dressing-ideas
Most of the items can be bought now in german internet shops or Real usw. Like candles. Sugary maple syrup. Baking soda in a box is also a common item in my local (not fancy) shop. Anti-perspirants from at least 15 different brands, some of the best Nivea and Rexona. Seach for 24 hours protection ;-).
vanilla extract *** vanilla extract **** vanilla extract!!! – to find in any shop. Any. :-)
Pie tins in any Kaufhof.
Danke, ich habe lange nicht so gelacht!!! All about the little differences! Ich mag den Blick auf Deutschland, so positiv und überraschend, als “native German” habe ich mit vielem nicht gerechnet. Wasser in Litern!!
Ich werde gerne mehr von Euch lesen!!
klaudia :)
Be careful when you send beef jerky. If the customs finds out you try to import beef jerky in a packet, the whole thing will be send back to the US (just happened to my sister) since its not allowed to imort it! So her hostmum had to take the beef jerky out and send the whole thing a second time (expensive experience!)
Oh, you can get measuring cups at every “Ikea”.
Katie, there is a little shop in Potsdam that sells Yankee Candles. I went there over the weekend a couple months ago. I don’t exactly remember where the shop is, but it’s in the Dutch Quarter section of town. If you walk the streets, you can’t miss it! There are “Yankee Candles” posters everywhere.
No kidding! Thanks for the tip, Anna. That’ll be really good to know for a lot of people.
Even here in the US I make my own vanilla extract. Take two vanilla beans and nick them with a knife. Put them in a pretty bottle (old wine bottles work great) then fill the bottle with the cheapest vodka you can find and cover. In about a month you’ll have 100% pure extract and you can ‘top off’ with vodka as you use it for about a year or so.
Hi Katie – you can buy “yankee candles” in a some branches of the Karstadt department store chain.
Really? Thanks for the tip, Tazzi! I’ll pass it on.
Katie… a bit late for this little “addition”… or when I move to Germany this summer, ask me to get some of this stuff at the [Air Force] commissary and BX for you! Stay in touch; would love to visit you when you’re in Berlin next!
Ah, in reading all the other posts, I’ve been reminded of so many wonderful experiences from my first “stint” in Germany back in 2000-2003!
Be careful with those pain relievers. It is illegal to bring more medication with you, than you will need for a short vacation. A family size bottle of Aspirin can already cause problems when passing customs!