My niece is in high school and will be spending a month in Germany with a host family. What would be an appropriate gift to take the host family from the United States? Anyone have an idea for something clever or a bit unusual?

Perhaps something that is typical of your home area would be a nice choice. We have a store here called "Celebrate Wisconsin" and that's where I bought gifts for several of our Alaskan hosts.

A photo book of your state/ area, candies and chocolate bars for siblings (no Mars, M&Ms, we have tho9se here as well) or something hand crafted - even though that already becomes a matter of taste again.

Does she know anything about this family? Ages/interests of parents, kids etc?

Where are you from in the US?

I created a picture book collage titled "Genesea's World" with photos of my family, my interests, and from my area [I even included photos of local houses, the countryside, lakes]. My host mother loved the collection so much she took it to work and showed it off.

Thanks so much for the replies so far. We are from Boise, Idaho, so maybe some Spud Bars would be fun. She had thought of t-shirts or sweatshirts with scenes or sayings from the area ----- or something that would be from one of the famous areas in the United States. But we just wanted some input from the well-traveled, more knowledgeable members of this forum.

For the wife of a couple we stayed with in Germany last year I took a 'London Map Scarf' - a novelty yes, but also a nice quality gift and she really liked it. German women are great scarf wearers. The company has scarves of Washington DC and New York too... www.mapscarves.com
Might be worth checking out?
Firefly

What's a Spud Bar? It sounds so kooky you *have* to give it as a gift

Idaho is a beautiful state, so a picture book or own photographs in an album would be great. It may be difficult with clothing if you don't know the sizes of the host family members.

Too bad you can't take a sack of famous Idaho potatoes. I used to work for a bank that financed potato farmers in Idaho. I asked my boss what the big deal was with Idaho potatoes. I got a lesson on why Idaho potatoes are better than any where else!!! I always buy them now when I have the choice.

The spud bars sound like a good novelty idea. Or some kind of typical craft.

Good luck!!

The Spud Bars sound great! A very unique item from your area. How about a regional cookbook from Idaho for the host mother?

If you really give a cook book please be aware that we have metric measurements including gramms and kilos...
And how about sending me a spud bar , too?

Thanks again for more input. An Idaho Spud Bar is an oval candy bar, somewhat in the shape of a potato, with a chocolate marshmallow cream-like center, covered with a thin layer of chocolate and rolled in coconut - if I remember correctly, as it has been years since I have actually eaten one. My husband reminds me that they can be shipped, so I would do a search for "Idaho Candy Company" which makes them to see if they are available online. Since we have such beautiful mountains in Idaho, perhaps my niece can find a book with lovely photos to take along as well.

My good friend travels to visit family in Germany and she always brings them food mixes (they can't seem to get them there), like boxed cakes, ranch and salsa dip mixes. I suggested this to my sister who just visited a penpal in Germany and they loved it...of course to make the gift usable also give them a set of American measuring cups/spoons!