Breakfast options include: Cereal, Toast, Yoghart, fruit, tea/coffee.
We do this as a help yourself affair with all the breakfast options in one place.If they require something special and its not very expensive, I usually grab it, but I don't feel obliged to buy banana's at $15 a kilo either! if it is exotic, expensive or something I am not very familer with, I ask them to buy it for themselves and then I leave it for them to eat.
We have basic cereals in our house and sometimes the students decide they cant live without fruit loops or croissants and so they buy them. I just make sure that this food is left for them to eat and not gobbled up by kids or other students. Put a tag or sticker on it with the students name or just write on the box with a texta to help remind others whose food it is.
Some house have a separate student fridge/pantry/shelf with a designated place for each student to put their personally bought food in/on.
For lunch and dinner, if your student is home, just add an extra serving for each student and eat as a family. If you enjoy cooking, then this can be a fun thing and introducing your student to vegetables and dishes they haven't seen before can be fun for you all.
If you are a meat and three veg dinner cook - then is is perfectly fine also.
If you are from another country and serve up traditional meals such as stirfry's, casseroles or Hangi's each night of the week that is fine too (and I'd love a dinner invitation!)
Most students are happy to eat "western" food and seem to enjoy it. Some students might want to eat rice for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Rice is pretty cheap, easy to cook in the microwave and keeping a bowl in the fridge and letting them help themselves is no big deal. Some students miss their national cuisine quite a bit after a few weeks. Help them to seek out a restaurant takeaway in West End or South Brisbane that will help fill that gap for them. There are many places in both of those suburbs within walking distance from the school that sell food from all over the world that they can get for lunch when they need to- I'm sure they will be able to find something close to what they get at home!
It is best to eat as a family at roughly the same time each evening in order to give the student a chance to practice their English. Some times they have been set home work that involves asking you a question like where were you born, where do you work or who is your favorite TV star and report back the next morning as part of their communication classes and so by eating together you give them that opportunity.
It is fine to eat in front of the TV if that's what you normally do - but remember to try and find some time each day to talk to your student - its what they have come here to do!
Eating as family separately from the students will make them feel uncomfortable. If this is your preferred option you will need to explain to the students why you are doing this. Its not very welcoming to eat separately from the students or to eat a different meal. Like most things in life, if you communicate why these things are happening, it will make for a much more pleasant stay for everyone.
If the student knows that you like to eat with your partner who finishes work later, they will understand why you feed them earlier. If you tell them you are on a special diet, then they know why their meal is different. If you feed your children at 5pm and put them to bed at 6pm, they will probably understand why you do that as many of them will have small children in their lives too! If you do shift work or arrive home late, try to set up a system so that they still get a decent meal. Expecting them to live on frozen meals, meat pies, supermarket pizza's or cans of baked beans isn't quite what its all about. Start by trying to tell them why you do what you do.
If the student shows some interest in cooking, encourage them to cook a meal for the family! Each time I have done this we have had some wonderful meals and learnt all sorts of new things! Its all part of the fun of hosting. Often the student will pay for the ingredients and cook the meal as a thank you. Sometimes we collaborate and I provide the basics and they track down the more exotic ingredients and pay for those.
We do the dishes after dinner like most families and we usually ask the students to set the table, clear the plates/table and to dry and put away the dishes. Its a nice bonding/talking time and lets them participate in the normal household routine. It may help dispel any myth that you are running a hotel too! Its fine to ask students to do a few household chores such as dishes, stripping/making their beds, vacuuming or sweeping their bedrooms and hanging the odd load of washing on the line. Its unreasonable to get them to clean your toilets, shower or oven!
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If your family has a celebration like a birthday happening, its nice to invite the student along. If you have a few students, the logistics can get messy. Its up to the individual family to work out what works for them.
Some options:
If you are going out for dinner, you can invite the student but make it clear that they need to pay for their own meal.
If you are going out for dinner, you can let the student know you wont be home and to cook their own meal/eat what you have provided/get their own takeaway.
If the gathering is at your place, it would be unreasonable not to invite the student. Asking the student to leave the house or not to come home so you can have a gathering, is probably not polite.
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Going out for dinner to a place that serves the national cuisine of your student is heaps of fun! We have been to a Chinese restaurant were there was very little English spoken, practically nothing on the menu I had ever heard of and certainly a lot of Chinese writing. We had taken our student to China Town in Sunnybank and asked her to choose a place and talk us through the menu. We paid something like $15 a head, ate things we had never heard of, couldn't pronounce and thoroughly enjoyed! We waddled out of that restaurant full, fat and very happy! If your student is willing, this can be a great way to get to know more about another country.
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