Germany Residence?

Question

I have a penpal In Germany and It is her birthday soon. What should I get her that would fit in a padded yellow envelope?

And a few questions because I'm curious.... :)

Do you have kool-aid in germany?

Do you have pop-rocks in germany?

M&Ms?

Tic-Tacs?

Thanks!

Answer 1

I don't think there is pop rocks in Germany. Any candy with peanut butter in it would be great. Or the crackers with peanut butter or cheese in them. Or a can of cheese. We don't have cheese in cans there. I'm not sure though, if you're allowed to send that. Also maybe a sweater or Tshirt with a college on it.

Answer 2

If she lives anywhere near a us army location in Germany she can get the original US sweets and drinks out of vending machines, that's what I did when I was younger.
Like everywhere else in the world, people are very different in Germany and it will be hard to say what she likes / dislikes. Look into her mails, does she seem to love the US? Then send her anything that in your opinion is typical american. If she seems to be undecided send her anything that you find nice.
But what will be really a great thing and she would love it for sure, take a video camera, enough tape and film a day in YOUR live. Where and how you live, show your school, your friends your family. If you do sports, show her. At at the end of the tape, get your family together and wish her a happy birthday. Burn it on a DVD and send it to her.
If you want to add some sweets: M&Ms and Tic-Tacs are very common in Germany. Pop-rocks I didn't see for ages, kool-aid I've not seen in shops (but I left Germany 7 month ago). Assuming she could get any sweets she wants, if she tries, I would pick your favorite ones. She's a penpale, right? So you both are interested in how the otherone lives. Share a piece of your life, it'll be the best you can give.
I am convinced it will be her favorite birthday present and the most personal one too.

Answer 3

Hi there,

I really like the idea of you sending your penpal something for her birthday. During my school time did I also have quite some penpals around the globe and we were also exchanging little present.
I'm German and did live in the US for nearly 3 years, so do know a bit of the different things you could send.
The first thing to watch for is weight, for sending anything by mail, so anything lightweight would be best.

What would I send?
1. Jelly Belly Jelly Beans, just a small bag with very special flavours. You can get them in speciality stores in Germany, but I expect not many people to know them.
2. Peanut Butter Cups would be something really American, as Germans are not the bit consumers of Peanut Butter.
3. I even think Oreo Cookies could be a good idea, but these might be a bit heavy.
4. We do not have kool-aid, but have something similar, so if you have strange taste, send it.
5. Maybe you have something special from your home state or city you could send. If you are in CA, I think you could impress her with some sand from the beach, if it is close enough.
6. As you cannot send fowers, maybe you want to send some seeds with special flowers from your area (maybe state flower). I at least could take such things on the plane and happily cultivated California Poppies in Europe.

Ok, this is all that gets into my mind at the moment, if you have more questions, do not hesitate to mail.
Ina

Answer 4

I grew up some in Germany and they did have M&M's, Tic-Tac's, and something LIKE Kool-Aid, but not called the same. As a matter of fact, one of my favorite things was the Kool-Aid like stuff that made a CARBONATED drink. =)
Some stuff that will fit into a padded yellow envelope:
Music CD's (which is something the kids over there loved back when I was there, anything American)
Bookmarks, a nice earring set or necklace, a scarf, a pen and stationary set (to keep writing to you, of course!), how about a personalized Christmas ornament, since it's that time of year, with both of your names engraved on it?

If you can get a bigger envelope, how about some American magazines? It depends on her interests, but there's a ton of things you could send depending on her likes and how much you want to spend. I cherished my pen-pals from Germany after I moved to the US and I still keep in contact with several!

Answer 5

Hey! I'm from Germany, but I lived in the States for one year. If you want to send her sweets, you won't impress her with M & Ms or tic tacs. What we don't get here is peanut butter cups or those little peanut crackers with cheddar cheese in them. (And send me some too! I just love them!!!)

Don't buy her a CD. We have tons of them here. But you could make her a CD with your own favorite songs. I always loved to get that from my penpals, because she will get to know you better when she knows what type of music you like.

Actually, you can get pop-rocks here, but it is very difficult. Once in a while a grocery store has them on sale, but that happens maybe every other year.

Answer 6

Tic tacs and m&ms yes, pop-rocks no but there is something similar that explodes in your mouth, and kool-aid no, but there is also something similar that you can put into water and then it is magically a different color and tastes like something. They do not have poptarts, and before I moved here, my husband and his sister always asked me to send them poptarts. Even though kellogs sells products here, just not the poptarts. I don't know what else you could send. Sorry.

Answer 7

If you'll send her a swastica, it'll be the end of your friendship, so don't!!!!
We have kool-aid, M&Ms, Tic-Tacs, but i know nothing of pop-rocks. Perhaps just send her a card, it is a thing most appreciated!! Or a nice little necklace or something like that.

Answer 8

I wouldn't send candy.. because as far as I know with the import export laws its not allowed to send food. If you do so check with customs first. It would really be a bad xmas surprise if she would have to pay import taxes on the candy. I would stick with the neckless, or earrings, if she has piercings.. go for that.. i know my sis went crazy over the piercing jewelry here. Or a nice card. Hope that helped some..:)

Answer 9

I think they won't be impressed by American candies, but find out what kind of music they like, and send some compact discs of music that may be hard to find there. My cousin is asking me for some pure North-American country or new country music, because the selection there isn't that great.

Answer 10

All I know, germans are not a big fan of peanut butter. Many of the germans I knew, they don not like peanut butter. And it is also kind of difficult to find a peanut butter at the german supermarket. So a pair of earing or necklace would be a great idea :)