Monday, December 6, 2010

The Grass Is Always Greener On The Other Side Of The Ocean

It doesn't matter where you live.
It doesn't matter in which foreign city (or state) your friends and relatives live or visit.
There's ALWAYS something that they can get where they are or where they're visiting that you CANNOT get where you are and that is faaaaar superior to any comparable product in your locale.

I've sent family and friends for chewing gum (England), face cream (England), burn cream, chocolate and marzipan (all Switzerland). Don't even get me started on Israel....

I've shlepped back for others ginger ale from South Bend, Indiana, seltzer and candy from London and various medicinals from Zurich. (Why do I always seem to get stuck with the liquids??). Oh, and I've also carted peanut butter - and if you've never done the same, it may interest you to know that peanut butter has been known to show up as explosives in TSA scans...

What is it about the unattainable product? The very same things that we crave are the things that our foreign counterparts seek to replace with our versions. And yet, there is that excitement of snagging that just out of reach item once in a while.

Look at these cool socks that I cajoled my dear friend Sharon into bringing back for me from Marks & Spencer in London. They were my Chanukah present to Avram and I couldn't find them anywhere in America. They remind me so much of him. They APPEAR plain and classic on the outside, but you never know what hides just out of sight ;) .



What do YOU send friends and family for - and from where?
What have you been asked to bring over - or bring back?

13 comments:

BLD said...

http://www.marksandspencer.com/Socks-Mens/b/66670031

G6 said...

Yes, thank you, BLD.
I know that.
But I have a distinct aversion to paying more in shipping fees that the item actually costs.

As an aside - you must have an AWFUL lot of time on your hands.... Chanukah vacation?

Nomi said...

Deodorant from Germany! The brand is Degree in the US, but the product is totally different!

Thank you roomie!!!!

the rabbi's wife said...

We have people bring over Crystal light and koolaid to Israel. Also Jif PB (because Skippy won't work for hubs), american sponges, chapstick, and vinyl coo-coos (hair bands).

perlsand said...

My parents can't find kosher Tic-Tacs in the US-or maybe it's only down in Fla.- so when they come to us in Israel or someone goes there, they stock up. There's also this strange food (my mother loves it!) called anchovy paste here that my mother can not find in the US.
I remember in the early years after our aliyah, asking for everything from diaper wipes to tuna but now you can get most things here (even if it's more expensive but LIVING here is more expensive)and one learns to adjust and make do.
However, I still order my 1 cent used Amazon books and have them sent for $4 to someone in the US instead of paying the overseas rates. I can never get enough books and the library here just isn't enough.

cuzzin buzzin said...

livervusht from baltimore
very thin chow mein noodles from detroit
marzipan from yerushalayim
marmite from south africa (ok, maybe not, it smells too much)

and when I brought a bottle of green Heinz' ketchup to Israel with me, in a squiggly shaped bottle, my luggage was opened and examined. they were looking at it oddly. AND the people I brought it to were not impressed. when cooked in chulent it looked grey.

FBB said...

mmmmmm...marzipan.....

ProfK said...

Perfumes and colognes from the Caribbean--prices there make the prices anywhere else look obscene.

itsagift said...

Cool socks!

Doobie said...

we've also gotten cool socks from Marks & Spencers in London. Ours have days of the week printed on them in addition to the colorful heels and toes.

Avram said...

OOOO! How cool is that!

Okay, next Chanukah or the next time Sharon goes to London :).

Yekke Wannabe said...

Is this the same Sharon that brought you aufschnit and liverwurst from Baltimore?

G6 said...

YW -
You seriously have way too much time on your hands :P .....