Cool, thanks. 
I’ve just been able to start drinking tea again once I found out that I hate any tea that has been sweetned. Since I can now once again drink tea, I’ve been trying different kinds of tea (white, green, black, english, etc…) and honestly would like to get good quality tea now and in the future.
If the “green tea” sold in the supermarkets are not up to standards, Are there some companies or keywords that I should look for that would point to good quality tea?
I only know of a few brands of tea other than the lipton / luzianne teas.
Mighty Leaf, Republic of Tea, Tazo and a few others.
Any recommendations would be wonderful, as would any suggestions on how best to enjoy my new treat.
Thanks in advance,
eldowan
Maybe it’s just the English who are down on Lipton, then. I’ve encountered a couple who were rather vocal on the subject! (Or maybe they were just picky?)
I’m regularly co-opted (via my former Japanese teacher) to help out with groups of young Japanese who come over for home-stays. Italian, Indian, Chinese, Thai and Korean food are all very familiar to them, as they’re pretty common in Japan (particularly in the big cities). I’ve found that Greek cuisine is a novel treat that almost everyone I’ve introduced it to, as are western-style seafood restaurants. It’s not a bad idea to have Japanese things to fall back on, but it’s no problem if you don’t.
One thing that bears warning: some home-stay families get annoyed if the visitors don’t hang out with them much. Virtually all of the groups I’ve encountered preferred to “go about” with others that came over with them. The idea of being with their hosts most of the time to practice their English is wonderful in the abstract, but much more difficult for most Japanese in reality. You may need to be understanding and not get hurt if your guest wants to be out with her friends more than you expected.
So are you saying we should cancel our reservation at Benihana’s?
And all this work we’ve spent teaching our kids “domo arigato… Mr. Roboto”
Oh, heck, why not take 'em? Although I’m reassured by Japanese people that teppenyaki is in fact Japanese, I’ve never actually had it there. Come to think of it, I don’t remember ever seeing it there (although it could very well be).
While many 30-/40-something Japanese will know that reference, young folks might not. Without the polite gozaimasu after arigato, you might just end up confusing her. Uh, not that I think you’re serious or anything. I’m just sayin’.
It would be a nice touch to provide an electric tea kettle for her so that she can prepare her own hot drinks. Venturing into someone else’s kitchen can feel a strange to a homestay guest, and she may not be comfortable preparing her own stuff there.
I’ve done a few homestays in the past. My families were great. But it is tough. It’s probably one of the toughest things I’ve done in my life. So when she has hard times- and she will- don’t think it’s your fault. It’s just a part of the cultural adaptation process.
Most important is space. Remember that all the time she spends with you is work for her. Between language and trying not to offend people, hanging out with your homestay family is as exhausting as school or work can be. Even kicking back and watching TV is probably a pretty tiring and nerve-wracking experience for her. You are always worrying “am I sitting right? is it okay for me to get up and go to the bathroom now? what should I do with the can when I finish my soda…” or whatever. It’s tough. And no matter how relaxed or welcoming you are, it’s still going to be tough for her.
So she will probably want to spend a lot of time in her room alone. You will feel like she is being withdrawn and anti-social. But really, this is the only way she has to relax and let down her guard for a minute. The same with her Japanese friends. She will want to spend a lot of time with them. It may start to upset you, since you’ll start feeling a bit like a motel. But getting together to process experiences, let off steam, share what they are doing and support each other is essential for her.
As she gets used to her new culture, she’ll almost certainly want to spend more time with you and less time with her Japanese friends. Let this happen naturally. Until then, make sure she knows that she shouldn’t feel bad or guilty when she doesn’t spend time with you. Have times when you let her know it’s okay for her to spend time in her room or go out with her friends. You may need to be explicit about this or she will start to feel guilty (which can lead to feeling resentful.)
Also let her know if you are okay with her inviting friends over. After some time, it may be nice to encourage her to throw a party. If she can cook, invite her to cook a meal for you guys. That can go a long way towards lessening that “I’m living in someone else’s house” feeling.
Don’t worry about food too much. People can adapt to that pretty quickly, and she’ll probably be excited to try your cooking. Getting used to the food is probably the easiest and least-pressure filled parts of adapting. And chances are if you offer her Japanese stuff, you’ll somehow get it wrong but she won’t say a word will feel like she has to eat it anyway since you went through so much effort. Just take her out to an Asian grocery store at some point and invite her to pick out anything she needs.
So ask her about breakfast though. She may be used to something different, and when you first wake up in the morning it can be hard to deal with strange foods.
Other than that- try to make sure she has the option to go to things like pot-lucks, weddings, picnics, etc. She’ll treasure these cultural experiences. Even mundane stuff like going out to dinner is probably going to be an interesting cultural experience in her eyes.
Have fun!!
Do you know where she’s from? People from the distant countryside might not have had as much exposure to cuisines from various cultures. Not that she’d be opposed to trying them, no matter where she’s from, because as TokyoPlayer mentioned, that’s the whole point of a homestay. Just remember that she might not be as used to typical American foods (read: tons of grease) so her digestion might not handle it terribly well. Which also isn’t to say that you shouldn’t give her pizza and the like; Japanese food certainly isn’t without grease (tempura, fried chicken, etc). Just be aware of it and try to make sure that not every meal is super greasy.
And if you want to really impress her, after you say “I’m Spud,” and she says “I’m Yuki/Chie/Rika/insert female Japanese name here,” say “Yoroshiku onegai shimasu.” (yoh-ROHSH-koo oh-nay-GAI shee-MAHS). I guess you can always cut it to the more informal “Yoroshiku.” Try to cut your vowels short
ooh, cook her pancakes. They have “hotcakes” in japan, which are much denser and IMO not as tasty. The fluffiness of American ones (with real maple syrup) is an experience most Japanese haven’t had, and it’s pretty close to home.
I’m not sure if you’re saying that people don’t say “domo arigato” as opposed to the full “domo arigato gozaimasu,” but I hear (and say) that all the time. I think you were just talking about sticking in the “Mr. Roboto” after it, though 
The pancake comment reminded me of something else. In Japan, they don’t have ‘sweets’ for breakfast like we do here (pancakes, sweet cereal, etc). Pancakes are actually considered a dessert. One friend of mine who stayed with me for a while actually complained about this, but then again he was a bit of a priss. But she may like to have some ‘non-sweet’ breakfast options available to her when she’s making breakfast on her own. When I used to make breakfast for a Japanese friend, they’d usually get one pancake to be polite and pile up on the other stuff like eggs, bacon and sausages.
Thanks everyone… I really do appreciate it. Bell Rung, I’d say that if I had half a clue what it means. I remember a nice guy from Saudi Arabia in college who was taught that “I want to eat your pubic bush” was the correct way to greet a woman. Although I will admit that he used that for many years after he was fluent in English.
Anyway, we picked up Maki this evening and she is a joy. Very sweet kid. Her English is very rough but she seems to have a good vocabulary so using single words we are getting along well. We figured out she likes Eggs for breakfast, and thanks to google images we could narrow it down between scrambled or fried (definitely scrambled). She also said she could play the piano “just a little” and sat down and amazed us.
She is going to watch my daughter’s soccer game tomorrow (a very competitive team… ranked in the top 10 nationally for her age) and she will get to sit on the bench and is getting a team jacket so hopefully she will have fun with that.
She said she likes “crabs” so we’re taking her to Joe’s Crab Shack for dinner… never had it and my expectations aren’t high, but there aren’t that many options in the heart of the mid west.
Thanks again everyone.
You can buy Lipton tea in India but it’s not the same as the American stuff. However, speaking as a person who has consumed much tea in both countries, US-market Lipton is a pallid, weak concoction that doesn’t taste or smell anything like tea.
One of the great things about being an exchange student for me was trying all of the local and native brands and foods… Personally, I’d pick up some Celestial Seasonings herbal tea or reccommend it to her as one of the best American teas and let ther choose a “flavor” when you are out shopping. It could also be a fun learning experience about American branding and a vocabulary lesson… try explaining Sweet Clementine Chamomile Organic Herb tea or Cranberry Apple Zinger! :.)
I don’t know if celestial seasonings is available in Japan, but it could be one of those products that she might fall in love with and want to take home and share with family and friends. Kind of like the moldy hanging sausage I smuggled out of germany with my socks.