As a host family, providing and sharing meals is one of your most important “jobs” and creates a homestay experience that is richer for your student. Think about it, preparing food, setting the table, and your nightly dinner conversation are all among the best cultural experiences you can share.
Your Japanese exchange student will have some ‘different’ points of view about eating and table manners. I understand that they particpating in a homestay program to learn how your family lives, but understanding where they are coming from will only help you be a more understanding host family. Certainly it’s up to you how you wish to educate your homestay about these differences.
Slurping- you’re serving pasta and you notice that your Japanese homestay sucks up the noodles loudly with the volume of a vacuum cleaner. You’re shocked, “What manners!” Actually, this behavior is common in Japan and it is actually very normal - to them it’s not impolite.
Gobbling - (applies mostly to guys) you serve a plate of food to your male Japanese exchange student and he wolfs down the food in massive gulps cleaning his plate in about 2 seconds. You think, “how rude!” Truthfully, this doesn’t apply to all Japanese men and is a bit of an exaggeration, but generally it has been our host family experience that Japanese men will eat faster and with more ‘gusto’ than American men.
Speaking with your mouth full - goes along with the ‘gobbling’ and is a natural extension of having your mouth stuffed to the lips with food. I’m sure there is some Japanese etiquette book that says this isn’t good manners, but again, my observation is that speaking with your mouth full is generally more acceptable with Japanese exchange students.
Prayer - before eating, you might witness your Japanese exchange student engaged in a ritual prayer before eating; hands clapped together with a slight bow and utterance, ‘itadakimasu.’ This act isn’t a strict prayer in a religious sense, but it is simply a gesture of thanks for the food.
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