What to get a 25yo Chinese-American girlfriend

October 17, 2017 1:20 AM

My Chinese girlfriend is turning 25. Lives in Shanghai but very Westernised having studied there. Conservative parents but not conversative herself. She likes coaching and soft skills - personal empowerment and conflict resolution. Blogs. She lives quite modestly. Likes cute gadgets. Creative and colorful. Has a bright sunny but gentle personality. Loves western sitcoms and drama. Paints but not very well. Wears Kate Spade. Any ideas? Help. I'm stuck.
posted by vizsla to Human Relations (11 answers total)

Mod note: Note: Because it's not spelled out precisely in the question, and because of an unfortunate typo in the title (now fixed), it wasn't clear, but this is asking for ideas for a birthday gift.
posted by taz (staff) at 1:35 AM on October 17, 2017 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Marimekko is sunny and colorful and very popular in Hong Kong, at least. It's expensive, but there are enough different levels of product to suit most budgets.
posted by frumiousb at 1:50 AM on October 17, 2017 [2 favorites]

Best answer: Arrange for one (or some) of her paintings to be mounted and framed.
posted by cyanistes at 2:59 AM on October 17, 2017 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Art supplies. Does she have any favourite brands of pens/paints/brushes?
posted by EndsOfInvention at 3:13 AM on October 17, 2017

Best answer: Get her a ticket to a nice TED Talk? Maybe she even has a favorite personal empowerment speaker.
posted by Spiderwoman at 6:43 AM on October 17, 2017

Best answer: Seconding art supplies. Get her a nice set of something, like the Koi watercolor sets.
posted by bile and syntax at 6:44 AM on October 17, 2017

Best answer: Have you checked out Amazon's Interesting Finds section? They have a lot of random stuff that fits the general Kate Spade / creative / colorful / cute gadget categories.
posted by angst at 7:27 AM on October 17, 2017 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Buy her a ticket to an amazing conference or retreat so she can network and soak in knowledge since she is really onto self help. Knowledge, experiences, and connections are worth it.
posted by yueliang at 8:55 AM on October 17, 2017 [1 favorite]

It is so creepy and problematic that you are referring to your girlfriend as "my Chinese girlfriend" and talking about her level of Chineseness as a principal framing device about her to help others shop for her. Chinese isn't a personality type.
posted by pseudostrabismus at 3:15 PM on October 17, 2017 [11 favorites]

Oh yeah, pseudostrabismus, thanks for speaking up for what I thought. I'm also a 25 year old Chinese American that likes self help and nice handbags, in addition to a million other things. I may and probably have nothing in common with your girlfriend. I get you are trying to identify her and make it more descriptive but that's problematic on a lot of different levels, for that type of description.

In addition to this, ask her if she has a life coach that she would like to get sessions from to work with, and buy her some sessions.
posted by yueliang at 3:27 PM on October 17, 2017 [4 favorites]

Best answer: Thank you for noting that your girlfriend is Chinese, and not a foreigner living in Shanghai, since that affects my recommendations. How about,

• Painting classes, if "paints but not well" means she'd benefit more from instruction than personal practice.
• Art supplies, especially brushes?
• Relevant books? "Getting to Yes" is taught at many business schools and its techniques are widely applicable outside business negotiations.

What kind of "cute gadgets" does she like? It may be more a projection of my own interests, but when I hear gadgets I assume kitchen stuff, in which case...boy can I give you some recommendations!
posted by d. z. wang at 9:11 PM on October 17, 2017