Gifts for host families

[MizMosa]

Hi all!

One of my dear friends is travelling to Spain this summer as part of an exchange program. He would like to present his host familiy with a small gift of some sort upon arrival, but is sort of stumped on what to get them. I suggested food from our area(local chocolates maybe?) t-shirts, or a book of photos from our area. Does anyone know if these are appropriate/well received gifts, or have any good host family gift ideas?

Thanks in advance!
-Anna

[Athos]

i would ask the folks running the program what they suggest, and i think bringing food or something local is a great idea. if you knew a bit about the hosts, you could easily customize a gift (like do they drink alcohol, eat chocolates, write postcards, etc).

we had many international visitors when i was growing up, and they always brought something culturally symbollic of their country or region.

[yozhka]

when i went to study abroad during high school, i brought my host family a book of photography that had really beautiful pictures of various places in america. that way, it was a bit of a conversation starter. cheesy as heck, i know! but it was pretty, too, not just "hey, i'm from america!"...

maybe if your friend is from some part of the country that has some kind of distinctive craft items (i.e. southwestern, or amish or whatever), s/he could bring something that's local and for the home...cause s/he's a houseguest.

oh, also, a good thing to bring (though probably not as a gift) is pictures of your own family and friends, so you can do a little show and tell.

[Lyssalicious]

Ooh, this is a thread worth bookmarking. Good ideas for when I live with a host family in Japan in the fall! Fabulous!

[knittinator]

My tip is dont take anything that smells!!! WHat smells great to you may smell nasty, or cause an allergic reaction in someone else!

[MizMosa]