I miss living there greatly and would gladly resume importing drug store articles and barbeque sauce for the opportunity to go back!

Glad you liked it there.

Barbecue sauce, by the way, is a great idea for the father of the girls, or the whole family for that matter. Not that we don't have barbecue sauce in Germany (we love grilling) but the sheer variety and craziness of US barbecue sauces has to be seen to be believed. Funny enough, there are more products from the US I miss when I am back in Germany than those from Germany or Europe, that I miss here. That's mostly because most German, French and Italian stuff gets imported. Foie Gras is a bit hard to find, as is Swiss Cailler Chocolate but at leat for the chocolate there are alternatives.

What is a bit disappointing are Gummi bears. The ones I can get here are made in Mexico or Hungary; frankly not the same taste, but not bad, either.

To the OP. Go with Upenn T-shirts. In German that could be loosely translated as "Du pennst.."= You sleep or, worse, "Du Penner!" which is a derogative term for a homeless person. So for teens in Germany that are most likely not PC inclined or raised, at least they'd get a kick out of that (if they are smart).

Till

Maybe we can trade Gummi bears for M&M Almonds, which unfortunately aren't available in Germany.

I am originally from Kansas City, so I brought back our legendary sauces on a regular basis...but to throw more anecdotal information into this thread, virtually every European who tried it found it too spicy (scharf)!

Sure! We got almond Mars, though. Not the same thing, I know.

Ah, that makes me want to go out to try a Kansas City barbecue sauce. What's your recommendation on something that would be commonly available in a Texas supermarket?

Germans can indeed be "wusses" when it comes to spicy stuff but, again, our experiences differ: my people all like spicy stuff. Maybe I should introduce you.

Till

Sounds like my friends could use some pointers on developing refined tastes from your friends!

Unfortunately, there is nothing truly representative of Kansas City on your shelves down there, but there are two world class options online:

http://www.gatesbbq.com/
http://www.arthurbryantsbbq.com/

Gates is a rich tomatoey kind of sauce with a solid kick, they have good deals on samplers online. Bryants is a thinner almost orange colored kinda thing, really nice but not a very good deal online. My German friends were all definitely interested in trying it (but ultimately found the Gates "zu scharf"). As grilling season will be arriving shortly, it could be a good cheap gift but would have to be in checked luggage or shipped, of course. I carried well wrapped plastic bottles of Gates in my luggage many times without a problem.