Our daughter is going to be studying in France this summer through a study-abroad program and it is suggested we send along gifts for the family she stays with, and even for other people she meets. Any ideas for the sort of things we should send? What might they appreciate? Thanks!

Sue

Where are you coming from? I always think that locally produced gifts are a good idea.

Also, for the teenagers T-shirts or sweatshirts from your nearest big university might be appreciated.

In this day and age of globalisation, few items cannot be found in France. Gap used to be unique to the States, but now... Bring them something from Abercrombie & Fitch or Banana Republic, which are not established (yet? ) in Europe. Strange (for us Europeans) tasting gums, such as the ones that are cinnamon flavored, can make fun add-ons. In general this is a hard one, since I am having a hard time bringing myself things that I can't find in Europe and usually end up at Walgreens' buying medicines that are not available over the counter in France, but I understand it's difficult to apply this to a teenager's gift!

Art (and I love your name, by the way),
I don't think the gift necessarily has to be something they can't get in France. It's just a gift. It's not like you can't get t-shirts in France, but a lot of kids like to have t-shirts from other universities, particularly universities that are foreign or 'famous' -- US examples would be Harvard, Princeton or Yale.

If I'm visiting someplace famous for a certain item, I might bring a similar local item. For example, I took friends in California a bottle of Ontario ice wine, which is quite unique to our area. Also, while maple syrup is common here, it's not available in some other places. And my friends in DC always ask for beer from our local micro-breweries.

Hi S,

>...it is suggested we send along gifts for the family she stays with, and even for other people she meets. <

Don't see hy she should be giving gifts to people she meets.

A picture book of your hometown might interest the family.

Maybe it's just the parts of France I go to, but I don't think I've ever seen a French kid wear a "foreign" (and hardly ever a domestic) university shirt. French tourists seem never to buy branded college insignia at the shops in my local university town - which feature one of the world's most famous university "brands". I doubt sjde's daughter will change that fashion on her own.

Buying clothes for foreign teenagers is pretty high risk: thousands of highly paid merchandisers and buyers consistently guess youth fashion wrong in their overseas outlets, which is why Gap, for example, is in such trouble in France.

If there is (or has been) a cult local group in your area that's not got to France (French charts at www.lanet.lv/misc/charts/#eur), the young Frenchperson might be piqued by a CD or whatever. Or she might make a compilation of whatever idiosyncratic music is being danced to in your local clubs.

My understanding is that the GAP is doing badly pretty much everywhere. I've never understood the whole GAP thing anyway.

My suggestion about the college shirts come from my goddaughter and her brother both of whom have been at university in Europe and have traded shirts with their college friends. Now, that was in Germany so maybe it's different elsewhere. But it still seems like a good 'semi-personal' gift item to me, even if they only wear it to sleep or wash the car in. Also, it's easy to carry.

The College sweatshirt/Tee is not a good idea for French kids.

OK, then. I give up on the idea.

There might also be a slight risk - depending on what the family's like and where it is - that vaguely-American street-style clothing might be taken as a bit too like what's popular in the banlieues. Clothing styles are too fraught with meanings!

Something nominally for the whole family, like a picture-book of where you're from (my mother would have bought things like souvenir tea-towels) or something characteristic, consumable (and portable) might satisfy honour without running any risks.

I wouldn't think it's necessary to buy things for each individual in the family or any other people she's just likely to meet (as opposed to the people offering her hospitality).

When my daughter was an au pair in Lyon, the kids she stayed with loved chocolate chip cookies. I think I sent the chips, and she had taken our favorite family recipe with her. This was 15 yrs ago, and I'm sure choc. chips are more readily available over there now, but the family might like it if she made the cookies for them.

Bring small funny gadgets or CDs - they are easy to carry.

I like the idea of making them chocolate chip cookies. I think that would be very sweet and touching. But, a big bowl of buttered and salted popcorn would be fun, too. Send the popcorn, we only found it in miniscule packages, not enough for a whole movie. Send the popcorn salt, too, but not the gross fake-butter flavored kind.

pdx - hilarious - bring popcorn to French kids - too funny.

They have popcorn in Frnace you know - they just don't seem to like it much - thats why the bags are so small and it's not easy to find. Go to the cinema - there's popcorn there - but you will rarely find French kids munching huge quantities of it.

The French are not great snackers - hence the small waistlines (generally).

Can we get over the idea that you have to bring them something they can't possibly get in France?

It's a GIFT! When someone gives you a gift, do you insist that it's something you can't possibly buy for yourself? Or do you just take it as a gesture of generosity or thanks on the part of the giver?

It's nice if it's something local to the giver (and, my preference, something useful) but it really doesn't have to be something that's impossible to buy in France.

Regarding giving gifts to everyone else, it's probably not the same in France (at least I hope not), but when we went to Japan, we were told to take wrapped gifts for many of the people we'd meet (we were there at a conference) and I was so glad we did, because we received gifts from so many of those people! My feeling is that it never hurts to be prepared with a few small, easy to pack things. You can always bring them home if you don't give them.

My male cousins asked for baseball caps. My older cousins appreciated American Indian items. For fun I gave a bottle of KC BBQ sauce, and it wasn't a hit. The aroma didn't appeal.

Two of my daughters have done French exchange homestay programs and brought courtesy gifts to the family. It is best to stick with something that is representative of your area. For us, that meant picture books of the Canadian Rockies, maple syrup and candy made from maple syrup, saskatoon jam, and small Canadian and/or provincial flag pins. We've also had French students stay with us and they have brought things like lavender soap, herbes de Provence, and picture books of their region.
- Marie

I have a friend going to France soon and he asked me the same question, but he is an adult staying with French friends. I suggested bringing the fixings for an American breakfast: maple syrup, a high quality (multi-grain) pancake mix, Kona coffee, and throwing in a couple of kitchen towels. He liked the idea and is going to do that.

I think all these ideas of becoming trade ambassadors for the American junk food industry are really really bad. I would be astounded if my European friends bought me Eur. junk food as a "gift" when they visited. An expensive chocolate bar or box of chocolates or special brandy or something, okay -- but popcorn or American breakfast mixes? what are you people thinking.... This only perpetuates stereotypes about Americans which I wish not to encounter when I travel, but no wonder they occur.

Actually, American Tshirts with certain logos are very popular with young people in Paris, although maybe not the segment of society where this daughter is going. I saw lots of kids wearing them last time I was there, as well as them being sold in stores. They weren't US colleges or universities, though, but things like the Chicago Bulls or something like that, or maybe even a certain musical group (like Blink, etc.). I wouldn't give them Tshirts from the nearest university, no.

As a matter of

Christina -
pocorn, breakfast = stereotypical bad american junkfood
american band logo tshirts = cultured, appropriate gifts.
Did I get this right?