I'm staying at a Pole's house for a weekend and I wanted to give her a gift to thank her. but what should I give. She's young, and likes a drink amongst other things, but is giving a bottle of vodka a bit crude?
Any other ideas. Is it the done thing to give a gift in situations like this?
if she lives alone (not with her parents - or at least runs a separate household) then presenting her some nice bottle of some extraordinary booze is quite all right - but it should rather be some women's booze (maybe Baileys - I am not very knowledgeable in that field) - just get it nicely packed/adorned a bit and perhaps buy some modest flower/s to accompany it (a couple of gerberas should do)
I usually give my hosts a voucher for some department store (depends a bit on what he or she likes) or a voucher to buy a cd or dvd or something. Flowers are nice, but if you give a voucher, you give them the opportunity to get something they really like or need. And it's a longer lasting thank you, if you catch my drift.
I have a good friend who has Polish roots but lives in Switzerland. I'm visiting Poland for a week before I stay with her in Switzerland so I'm going to bring back some King Sobieski vodka. I can't find it for sale anywhere else in Europe, including large liqour stores that aren't so far from the Polish border.
Womankind is same everywhere: buy her some good, expensive perfumes, booze and flowers are good too but its not very longstanding present. If u want her to remember u for good ten give her something special and outstanding... i advice some souvenirs from special selling stores. In town of mine 4 example prismatic statuettes and special wine glasses are very popular.
vodka for a girl sounds strange for me. but if she likes it... i'd rather give a nice box of chocolates from your country or some Cd. flowers will quickly wither
The vouchers I give are usually for shopping at respected department stores :) However, when the host(s) have kids, I normally give those kids either a toy or gift-vouchers, or I let them pick something from a toyshop. The parents usually appreciate this more than when you give something to them themselves. Generally, it would be about 20 to 30 Euros, which I think seems reasonable. With toys it just depends on how much the toy costs.
Perhaps use your brain and what you know about her.
The first gifts I gave to mine had a lot more meaning to it. She is half Swiss and born and raised in Switzerland, but I know she loves her Polish roots. She also loves history so I gave her coins from the Polish Empire around 1500. She is also interested in Indian culture and absolutely loves dogs so I gave her a hand-carved Indian dog made of stone that I got when I visited India.
The next gift was a hand-carved wooden sheep I got when I was in Slovakia.
They seem silly, but she loved them all a lot. I also sent her a birthday card because I was out of town for her birthday and simply having "Sto Lat" written on it made her happy. Honestly, use your brain! :P
