Things Sold Only in America...?

[Black Yaris]

What country are you going too? When we went to Germany my friends there wanted products with Floride in them (Gum, floss and toothpaste), since their water is not florinated there.
they also requested oatmeal cookies

we have found that just about anything you buy on a regular basis is good

there are many things that we enjoyed from Germany that we can not get here, so we mail each other things everyonce in a while

[sex]

Are you going to Japan? Bring a huge cooler of Haagen Dazs.

[tomato]

How about an original iPad (they release pretty soon) invented (???) by people right here in Cupertino

Some Levi's jeans (born right here in San Francisco at the turn of the century)

a Timbuk2 messenger bag!!

http://www.timbuk2.com/tb2/products/home

you know they still have a factory right here in SF (although they 've outsourced some of the manufacture out to Asia). You can visit it, too.

[tomato]

Jelly Beans (factory is right here in Vallejo, you can order straight from there and visit the factory, too)

http://www.amazon.com/Jelly-Belly-As.../dp/B000IKCOKQ

[Kongo-Otto]

Originally Posted by tomato

Jelly Beans (factory is right here in Vallejo, you can order straight from there and visit the factory, too)

http://www.amazon.com/Jelly-Belly-As.../dp/B000IKCOKQ

These beans made it to ALDI in Germany, one of the biggest supermarkets here. They are on sale whenever they´ve got their "American Weeks" beside other things.

Originally Posted by silver_echo

i can't remember if it is Lee brand or Levi brand jeans,

It is Levi's. They are expensive here, atleast some models.

[tomato]

yeah, it would really help if we knew:

where you're going (that's the most important because we don't want cultural mistakes)
an age range for the members of the family
conservative or not?
religious? (some gifts like booze and tobacco products may be a no-no)


Gifts do not have to be expensive. Remember, Obama gave the Queen of England an iPod as a diplomatic gift when clearly he could have bought something far more expensive.

How about an original iPhone (not made here, but invented here?). Wait, that's stupid, they may not be able to use it with the carriers over there. How about an iPod touch instead? I don't know what else screams "california" more than an Apple product ;) (<------------- oooooooooooooooooh, I might get my @ss kicked for that one )

[sbergman27]

Originally Posted by Kioshi

Whats sold 'only' in America, that you can't in other countries?

Political influence.

[JumpmanYaris]

Originally Posted by sbergman27

Political influence.

Boooo LOL

[Altitude]

Originally Posted by sbergman27

Political influence.

LOL.

A cowboy hat or two?

Sadly there isn't much I can think of that is uniquely American save for some of tomato's more regional suggestions.

[silver_echo]

i can't remember if it is Lee brand or Levi brand jeans, but if you take a bag full of them overseas, you can make a pretty penny selling them, so those would be a good idea... american jeans are made in other countries, but seem to only be sold in the u.s. another thing that i have heard is american marlboro cigarettes... just a note... take with grain of salt...

[MadMax]

Yeah, it's funny how things work in the world. I have friends in the UK whose son is addicted to Froot Loops, but they can't get them there. When I was living in Bratislava, we found the US Embassy commissary in neighboring Vienna and loaded up on Coke and peanut butter. We let the young ladies who worked the reception desk in the hotel we lived in try it, and they were disgusted by it! Considering some of the foods we ate there, that was surprising!

I agree with tomato, find something unique to your area and it will be well received. Being in Texas, and especially San Antonio, it's easy to find something that represents the local culture and/or history...even if it's made in China!

Cheers! M2

[Kioshi]

Wow @ everyone's responses. You guy's really out did yourselves, i GREATLY appreciate each one of your ideas...thank you!

Sorry for leaving you guys/gals in the dark..."member, sex" guessed it...I will be planning to go to Japan...i think~~ :-/

Originally Posted by SeaYa

Even though you can buy them online, as far as MADE in the US, what about a collectors set of mint US coins/bills...pretty sure we haven't outsourced that yet. Good luck!

I dont live near any national parks...But the US mint coin collection sounds tempting, something my host father would like/love. Thank you for that suggestion. People liked the suggestion at Micro Image too...

tomato - My host family is Japanese..4 members total, 3 this time because I dont know if their daughter will be there this summer~ I stayed for about a week at their house...They treated me like their own, i kept calling them Father and Mother....i dont know their personality nor their age whatsoever, the language barrier doesn't help. I couldn't decipher them, only communicated in little bit of japanese haha. But they are around age 50 or so...or more~They are somewhat conservative though, if that answers your questions.

Originally Posted by CtrlAltDefeat

err.. Scions? lol hotdogs? American footballs? Chevy trucks, with gun rack option? lol

American football is good..the rest i can't take, I'm traveling light this time

Originally Posted by Black Yaris

What country are you going too? When we went to Germany my friends there wanted products with Floride in them (Gum, floss and toothpaste), since their water is not florinated there.
they also requested oatmeal cookies

we have found that just about anything you buy on a regular basis is good

there are many things that we enjoyed from Germany that we can not get here, so we mail each other things everyonce in a while

I'm going to Japan. My host family gave me stuff before I left, on the last day. I felt bad I could not get them something. But them hosting me was totally unexpected, thus i was not prepared... :(
I have found that they dont have Coffee Mate there..i could buy that, since they drink coffee there a lot.

Originally Posted by Ichimaru

Dominos oreo pizza jaja

Thats so cool, I will consider that for their son. Didn't know we had those! I hope they dont break in the luggage~

Originally Posted by zachryboles

http://www.prsguitars.com/

one of the coolest gifts american made that you can give

I wish they hadn't put a charge on overweight luggage. I paid $50 for a few extra pounds in 2006, when i went overseas...

Originally Posted by sex

Are you going to Japan? Bring a huge cooler of Haagen Dazs.

Do they have small enough coolers to fit in a 20-24" luggage?

Originally Posted by tomato

religious? (some gifts like booze and tobacco products may be a no-no)


Gifts do not have to be expensive. Remember, Obama gave the Queen of England an iPod as a diplomatic gift when clearly he could have bought something far more expensive.

How about an original iPhone (not made here, but invented here?). Wait, that's stupid, they may not be able to use it with the carriers over there. How about an iPod touch instead? I don't know what else screams "california" more than an Apple product ;) (<------------- oooooooooooooooooh, I might get my @ss kicked for that one )

I hear you on the religion aspect, but they are atheist, most are in Japan anyways...so no problem w/ alcohol mwuahaha.
I did not know that Obama gave an Ipod to Queen of England, good fact. I'm trying to budget wisely on this trip as I need the saved money to take trains to places...

LOL tomato..parents won't be interested in that, but may be their son? Hmm...I love you're responses

And thank you for the SFGate link :)

Originally Posted by tomato

When I go out of the country, I usually take with me small stuff people can identify with as being representative of here, even if they're not manufactured in the US.

San Francisco souvenirs are always a big hit (there is a good shop on Grant for good quality souvenir T-shirts at a good price), little cable cars, stuff like that. There are many actually, but this one has good quality stuff at a fair price.

You're gonna want light stuff because they weigh everything nowadays, so when you stuff your suitcase, keep that in mind.

Ghirardelli chocolate should make it through custom just fine and should please just about anybody. Some people like stuff with the US flag on it (I once bought pens with the us flag on it, and they were fighting over them, if you can believe that).

Others prefer goofy stuff (you should find funny stuff in the Haight District, San Francisco)

I know, i learned my lesson from last time. I had a backpack and two luggage with me...HORRIBLE dragging those two around up 6 floors and from Tokyo to Kyoto!! I am taking one backpack and one luggage w/ me..20-24" i believe~

Hmm Ghirardelli...would work for my host mother.
LOL thats funny about the pen w/ US flag on it

Would you happen to know the shops name on Grant and the one on Haight St by any chance?

Originally Posted by sbergman27

Political influence.

Hehe too massive to fit in 1 luggage.

Originally Posted by MadMax

Yeah, it's funny how things work in the world. I have friends in the UK whose son is addicted to Froot Loops, but they can't get them there. When I was living in Bratislava, we found the US Embassy commissary in neighboring Vienna and loaded up on Coke and peanut butter. We let the young ladies who worked the reception desk in the hotel we lived in try it, and they were disgusted by it! Considering some of the foods we ate there, that was surprising!

I agree with tomato, find something unique to your area and it will be well received. Being in Texas, and especially San Antonio, it's easy to find something that represents the local culture and/or history...even if it's made in China!

Cheers! M2

MadMax, thank you for your response, appreciate it and I agree w/ you. They don't really eat cereal in the morning in Japan. Usually leftovers or rice or straight up coffee..
I will try to do that, although nothing comes to mind of what makes "Fremont" so unique and popular...LOL...maybe i can try San Francisco~

Everyone, you're all awesome, thanks for the ideas/suggestions...keep them coming. I will refer back to this thread during the coming months!

[MadMax]

Yeah, when I was stationed in Germany we would meet with the German Air Force on a regular basis. When we went to their base in Trier, we bought wine; and when they came to visit us at Ramstein, they bought Levis!

As a matter of fact, I used to buy Levis for my German BMW mechanic in appreciation for all the great work he did on my cars.

Kongo, we actually have ALDI stores in the US. Not down here in south Texas, but they are starting to show up in the northern part of the Lone Star State as well as up in Pennsylvania where my wife's family lives.

Cheers! M2

[Kongo-Otto]

That is interesting, i did not know ALDI is already in the US.

Well i know another brand which is popular here. Abercrombie & Fitch shirts are not that easy to get because they have no stores in Germany. As far as i know the got some in the UK. I bought mine via eBay but you never know if you get a rip-off.

[specialeducator]

Originally Posted by Kioshi

Here's the scoop, i will most likely be visiting my host family overseas and its common courtesy to give gifts from where you live/are from.

Whats sold 'only' in America, that you can't in other countries?

It can be any price range....I would just like to get an idea and see whats out there....for me to get for my host family...

Thank You,

How about Hershey bars? That's what I bring when I go to Ireland.

[Black Yaris]

If they like Coffee, get them some Jamaican Blue Mountain. It is about $40 a pound here and is even more in Japan $60-80 a pound. I have a lot of coffee from around the world, and Blue Mountain is the best!

[katte]

Its nothing special that you will get only in America.Except the price variation.But to visit America will be really very good and great gift for your family members.