Newyears Homestay, Omiyage etc

[sarahg]

Konnichiwa, minasan.

Assuming the planning pans out, I'll be visiting Japan for the first time ever. My Japanese school has a flier for a "newyears cultural course with homestay", and I'm looking into going! Yay!

Strangely, it'll be my first time overseas and I'm going alone to somewhere that my English won't get me far in, and the part I'm most nervous about is inconveniencing or embarrassing my hosts

I am wondering from people who have done a homestay before what advice you can offer?

Is there anything you wish you'd done or known in advance for your past homestays?

What kind of omiyage would be suitable to bring? Since they're volunteering I assume they won't mind my basic level of Japanese limiting conversations (I'm near the end of my first Japanese textbook, using jpod mostly for practice & reinforcement), but are there any phrases or topics I should do extra study of before I go to make sure it's covered?

Kotaewa, dómo arigató gozaimasu!

[Belton]

I haven't done homestay as such. The first time I stayed with a Japanese family was when I stayed with my girlfriends parents.

Things to watch out for (you might know already) removing shoes indoors and removing slippers on tatami. The different slippers in the toilet.

Knowing how to take a bath. No soap in tub basically; it's only there to soak in and you don't drain it afterwards. If in a communal situation you don't stand to shower off.

Manners at the table. Say itadakimasu and gochisousama deshita. Try to eat everything on your plate. Especially rice. Odd things like natto you can safely try and leave if you don't like them; you should try anything offered though. Chopstick (ohashi) ettiquette is don't stick them in your rice, don't pass food from one pair to another. Rest them on a rest if available. You bring your rice bowl to your face, not your face to the ricebowl. It's ok to slurp noodles!

It's best to use masu desu forms if speaking to anyone older than you.

Offer to help out. Behave like a part of the family rather than a hotel guest.

While it might be your first homestay, your host family has probably done it before perhaps many times. Maybe they'll even know some English.

You might want to look at the set phrases entering and leaving a house or room. It always seems to impress.
You could practice talking about yourself, your family, your school and your country. a self introduction. what you like about Japan. what you find different. why you study Japanese. what your favourite foods are. These would probably be the main topics of conversation.
You'll probably find you'll want a phrase to say thank you at the end of your stay.

omiyage. I've found some foodstuff from your home country always goes down well, hopefully in a form that can be shared amongst several people.

For conversation, photos of your family and hometown are always interesting.

Good Luck. It sounds like fun. Ganbatte!

[Taurus]

Things to watch out for (you might know already) removing shoes indoors and removing slippers on tatami. The different slippers in the toilet.

Also, different slippers outside - if, say, they have a balcony or back yard or whatever. I was round at a friend's house and some of us went out the back to smoke and I nonchalantly wandered out in my indoor slippers which caused minor consternation. I was supposed to change into the outdoor slippers by the door.

Knowing how to take a bath. No soap in tub basically; it's only there to soak in and you don't drain it afterwards. If in a communal situation you don't stand to shower off.

Here's my own guide to washing in Japanese.

You'll probably find you'll want a phrase to say thank you at the end of your stay.

Something like 'iro iro osewaninarimashita', for example.