Hi All,
Our oldest son, 21y/o is moving w/his GF and her family to Taiwan on Jan.7th. GF's parents own a 'Cram School' and have offered SS a job teaching English. We are o incredibly proud of him for being brave enough to take this opportunity, even though he is quitting school (he can always start back up again) and am beyond excited for him and his sure-to-be great adventure!
This was a somewhat sudden decision. We have only had about a month to prepare. He is only taking with him 2-50lb bags of luggage so we do not want to buy him anything that takes up too much space but we need some ideas of gifts for Christmas?! So far, I have bought him 2 HUGE Reeses PB cups (about 6in long and 2lbs each, they are his favorite candy and I thought of him when I saw them) and husband bought him a cool map of Taiwan...but that's all we have got so far.
He has a fabulous laptop (thank you in-laws) and we just bought him a new battery for it. Grandma is also buying him a huge GC to JcPenny's so he can buy himself some nice work attire before he goes. He will be living with his GF in their own separate little house (think MIL bungalow) on GF's parents property that is already set up and GF speaks chinese so he doesn't need any of those cool translation dictionaries b/c she is essentially his translator! Ha!
Any other cool ideas? C'mon you crafty ladies...help me out? He will be a teacher....there has to be something there I can work with but for the life of me I am drawing a blank!
As Always Any and ALL opinions welcomed and appreciated!
Thank you!
Karma
Thank you to all who have answered.
He is kinda a big guy, so thanks for the heads up about the clothes.
~Yes, luckily he already had his passport, and visa taken care of, plane ticket bought...got his immunizations.
You can always ship him things that he needs or wants once he gets there. Once he's there he'll know better what he needs and you won't have to worry about him carrying in his luggage. Good luck to him!
How about money? I don't know if you consider that too crass, but he could use it to set himself up once he gets there and figures out what he really needs. Maybe you can include a note that tells him how proud you are and that the gift is intended to help him get settled there.
Try do a Google Search on "Expats living in Taiwan."
That should give you a good idea... on what would be needed etc.
I think the gift card ideas are the way to go. You can even get a Visa giftcard since it would probably be accepted most anywhere. What about the weather? Does he need a new coat or hat? Or new shoes, since he will probably be walking a lot? Good luck to your son, sounds like a great adventure!!
Most airlines have very strict weight limits for travelling overseas -- even more than in the US. Also, extra luggage costs A LOT these days and shipping prices can be prohibitive. I wouldn't buy him anything heavy or plan on shipping much. Give him an Amazon gift card. He can use it for anything he wants on Amazon.com, and possibly even get free shipping if the dollar amount is high enough.
Good luck to your son -- what an exciting adventure!
Since he is so limited on space for packing I would wait until he gets there and is somewhat settled before buying him anything. I know it's expensive to send packages but in a month or two he will have a better handle on what he needs. He will be able to find out his dress code for the school, if he needs translation software ect. Even though his girlfriend speaks Chinese he may not be able to go anywhere without her. He sounds like an independent person, he will soon be very tired to not have the freedom to go anywhere without a companion. Can you imaging not being able to get a coffee without a translator? Or he may have little trouble with the language barrier since the Taiwan citizens have been dealing with Americans for so many years.
What part of Taiwan?
My oldest daughter spent 10 weeks in Taipei back in 2004, I think..... she had a great adventure! My second daughter has lived in Seoul, South Korea for 5 years now, teaching. She first taught at one of the afterschool English schools, and now teaches second grade at a private International Christian school. She's had a great time living there.
I don't know about Taiwan, but my daughter that lives in Seoul, South Korea, buys stuff at Costco... it is amazing what all they have there as far as American foods!
I don't know how large your son is.... but my daughter is 5'7" and weighs about 200 lbs (yeah, she should be lighter, but she is what she is...) ... she can't buy clothes over there... they don't usually carry much in that large of an American size.... she also wears a size 11 women's shoe..... she has to get her stuff in the summer when she comes home.
I hope he has his passport? Are you getting the visa and stuff taken care of quickly? What about immunizations? We had about 3 weeks to get my daughter packed and ready... fortunately she already had a passport.....
One of my brothers lives in Australia and there are a lot of things he can't get there. Why don't you give your son an IOU and then send him care packages every other month with his favorite foods and things from home? I do that with my brother and he really loves his 'American care packages'.
