Gift for Piano Teacher before PCS

[VillainV]

My son’s piano teacher is a Navy spouse and they are PCSing next month to Japan. She’s been his teacher for a little over a year, and she’s really wonderful. I’d like to get her a small thank you gift, but have no idea what to get her that might be useful to her/them in Japan or during their move. Maybe some kind of nice journal and pens?

Help!!!!

[morecoffeeplease]

I've had a lot of friends move overseas and they all say the less stuff the better. I'd honestly get her a gift card that they'll be able to use in Japan.

[VillainV]

Nov 11, 2020 8:18:06 GMT -5 morecoffeeplease said:

I've had a lot of friends move overseas and they all say the less stuff the better. I'd honestly get her a gift card that they'll be able to use in Japan.

Any ideas for something I could get here that she can use in Japan?

[morecoffeeplease]

Nov 11, 2020 10:09:26 GMT -5 VillainV said:

Nov 11, 2020 8:18:06 GMT -5 morecoffeeplease said:

I've had a lot of friends move overseas and they all say the less stuff the better. I'd honestly get her a gift card that they'll be able to use in Japan.

Any ideas for something I could get here that she can use in Japan?

Do you know if they'lll be near a base that has an exchange? An exchange gift card might be a good idea. 

[VillainV]

Nov 11, 2020 10:15:35 GMT -5 morecoffeeplease said:

Nov 11, 2020 10:09:26 GMT -5 VillainV said:

Any ideas for something I could get here that she can use in Japan?

Do you know if they'lll be near a base that has an exchange? An exchange gift card might be a good idea. 

They are going to be on a base, but I don’t know if it’s an Army or Air Force base (AAFES) or Navy base (NEX). I could ask. If it’s AAFES I don’t have any way to get that since I’m currently stationed at a Navy base with an NEX.

[morecoffeeplease]

Nov 11, 2020 10:35:27 GMT -5 VillainV said:

Nov 11, 2020 10:15:35 GMT -5 morecoffeeplease said:

Do you know if they'lll be near a base that has an exchange? An exchange gift card might be a good idea. 

They are going to be on a base, but I don’t know if it’s an Army or Air Force base (AAFES) or Navy base (NEX). I could ask. If it’s AAFES I don’t have any way to get that since I’m currently stationed at a Navy base with an NEX.

Ahh gotcha. Does amazon deliver to military bases?

[kpol]

Nov 11, 2020 11:15:37 GMT -5 morecoffeeplease said:

Nov 11, 2020 10:35:27 GMT -5 VillainV said:

They are going to be on a base, but I don’t know if it’s an Army or Air Force base (AAFES) or Navy base (NEX). I could ask. If it’s AAFES I don’t have any way to get that since I’m currently stationed at a Navy base with an NEX.

Ahh gotcha. Does amazon deliver to military bases?

Amazon definitely delivers to APO/FPO addresses which is what she should have in Japan. I would avoid any Visa gift cards because those can only be used on base and in my experience, can be iffy there too.

Do you know if she cooks? Penzey’s has nice gift sets or if you went with a gift card, they ship to APO addresses as well.

[Aquatica]

I'm currently overseas so a heads up on gift cards, they do not work here in South Korea on the bases. They are country specific/country registered businesses so Korean Burger King, or Korean Starbucks (or in your friend's case Japan Starbucks) so it's a different gift card system and point system. The only cards that work without issue are Exchange and Commissary gift cards.

A gift idea I can think of is maybe gathering resources for your friend to make her transition easier when moving, or looking up a massage place for after the move and giving her the amount for it. I went from Seattle to Korea and that flight was long so a massage felt nice after getting settled in.

[dcn]

I like your journal idea actually. She can use it to keep track of PCS details, jot things down about Japan, keep notes about housing search etc.

[Stan]

I would just tip her the cost of one lesson as a thank you.

[VillainV]

I ended up getting her a small leather-bound journal with different refillable page insert options (grid, line, blank) and some nice colored pens, so she can journal or bullet journal or make lists or whatever she likes to do.