Hosting a British teen coming to US for the first time - Update post 39

[Larrabee]

My neighbor hosted a student from Germany.  They were watching TV one evening and Debbie prepared some popcorn for everyone. 

He was horrifed - HORRIFIED - that the popcorn was buttered and salted.  Apparently he'd only ever had sugared popcorn.  Now that would horrify me!   

Yeah, American popcorn is very strange to us.  At the cinema we can have plain or sweet, putting butter on popcorn makes about as much sense to us as putting mayonnaise on cupcakes.

If you plan on a trip to the cinema (which might be a nice idea as you often get the blockbusters a few months ahead of us) I'd warn your guest of the difference.

[EmmaJ.]

Yes, thank you!  I hit "enter" before I completed my thought. 

I meant to say that it would be a kindness to tell your guest the ingredients of most anything you offer.  They may be used to something entirely different!

[oz diva]

Hijack This is a bit off topic but the buttery popcorn reminded me of an Indonesian colleague who had never had avocado as a savoury. She had it with pureed with condensed milk for breakfast. The thought of having it in a salad was as foreign to her as having it for a sweet was for me. /hijack

[shhh its me]

  I forgot about the popcorn.

A few other tips............. US bacon is streaky bacon in the UK the closest to UK bacon is Canadian bacon.  Pudding is dessert in general and  kebabs means gyros.  The most "Indian "food is served in England and I'm told pickles on hamburgers are "yucky". Oh....lol and don't make a "V" with first two fingers with your palms towards you( like you might if ordering 2 of something )it's the equivant of the middle finger.  Pants means underware only  not slacks or trousers" what color pants are your going to wear?" will get you a funny look, fanny is a very dirty slang ( vulgar term for ladies bottom front bits not tush).  I person always looked the wrong way crossing streets in England, this might deserve a heads up.

[Thipu1]

Hijack This is a bit off topic but the buttery popcorn reminded me of an Indonesian colleague who had never had avocado as a savoury. She had it with pureed with condensed milk for breakfast. The thought of having it in a salad was as foreign to her as having it for a sweet was for me. /hijack

People in the USA do enjoy sweetened popcorn.  The popcorn ball, which included syrup to form the ball, was a Halloween staple.  A quick visit to State Street in Madison Wisconsin shows the amazing variety of sweet popcorn available.  However, most people in my part of the USA regard popcorn as they would regard an ear of corn.  Butter and a little salt is the preferred way to go. 

When I first encountered Mr. Thipu's parents, I was appalled.  Lunch included fresh tomatoes from
the family garden.  They looked wonderful until they were served as dessert, sliced and dusted with sugar! 

Sacrilege!

[Irishkitty]

When I was about 14/15 I visited Germany as part of a group. We all stayed with host families (one student per family).
I stayed with a family who were very sweet. The Grandfather would come over and visit almost every day to practice his English, and they'd play boardgames. On the few times we had with nothing organised by the group they took me to a local pancake house for lunch and around a few local cultural and historical attractions. They had a video camera and made a copy of the tape for me to bring back - scenes of me with the family, visiting places and of our group's performances.

What was really thoughtful of them was they noted that I took milk in my tea. They didn't. But they bought a small milk for me. The also noted that I didn't eat the sliced meat at breakfast time, but that I might have some bread and cheese, and on a Sunday morning they had sweet bread for a treat. I loved it. They bought it for breakfast everyday after that (they did worry that I wasn't eating enough, but it was more that I was slightly picky and also feeling nauseaus and homesick). It was those little thoughtful things they did that helped me feel less anxious and homesick.

Basically what I'm trying to get at in my long-winded way is that 1. Buy your normal food. The teenager will find something they like. 2. If you know they're a tea drinker/crisp eater/coca cola drinker then something small like that is great to have around to make them feel a bit more "at home". But they're there to get an experience of America, so don't go overboard with British stuff.

[Snooks]

Waffles in the UK are made from potatoes.  When I was offered waffles in Canada I said I liked them with ketchup, our host thought I was crazy, I wondered what abomination of a waffle I'd been served.

[DuBois]

Our English friend likes nothing better then to hit the fast food joints when he is here.  And I don't think I have ever seen him drink hot tea.

English cuisine isn't all that different from US is it's basic flavors, I wouldn't worry about stocking up on anything.

And f you have a big mall nearby go there! The British are well familiar with cute little shops, it's the great big malls and sweeping vistas that get them sometimes  Out friend also LOVES seeing the mountains, the sunsets and the wide open spaces. But we live in the southwest and wide open space is what we do best!

How I wish that were true! Everywhere in the UK seems so generic now. That said, I fully agree with you that American malls beat anything I have ever seen here. The UK doesn't have the great boutique culture of continental Europe, nor the 'big picture' culture of American shopping. We really have the worst of all worlds, I think.

[JoyinVirginia]

The students are here! Thanks for the advice everyone. Our student is mostly vegetarian, we have fresh fruit on hand that she likes so that is good. For the first evening I made rice krispy treats for a snack, she had never that before and liked it. So far, so good.
Additional info: I made Pillsbury cinnamon rolls with cream cheese icing for breakfast, she had never had a cinnamon roll before, and she liked it. We went out for terrific french fries at Five Guys Burgers and Fries tonight, she liked them - with vinegar (my DH eats them that way too.) Then we went and got frozen yogurt - another first for her. I think she is having a good time so far, and she is not going to go hungry!
One more addition: I was worried about what kind of tea to get - I didn't need to. When I asked student about what kind of tea she would prefer, she told me she doesn't like tea! That was a surprise!

[Snooks]

One more addition: I was worried about what kind of tea to get - I didn't need to. When I asked student about what kind of tea she would prefer, she told me she doesn't like tea! That was a surprise!

Quite a lot of us Brits don't like tea, don't be surprised!

[Ferrets]

One more addition: I was worried about what kind of tea to get - I didn't need to. When I asked student about what kind of tea she would prefer, she told me she doesn't like tea! That was a surprise!

Quite a lot of us Brits don't like tea, don't be surprised!

That brought to mind fond memories of my lovely German exchange host family, who had packed almost an entire kitchen cupboard full of many different types of tea for me, on the assumption that - being British - I'd need the stuff practically on an intravenous drip. (Lovely thought. And lovely tea, too. )

JoyinVirginia - glad it's going well!

[RingTailedLemur]

One more addition: I was worried about what kind of tea to get - I didn't need to. When I asked student about what kind of tea she would prefer, she told me she doesn't like tea! That was a surprise!

Quite a lot of us Brits don't like tea, don't be surprised!

SHUN!!!   

[Sharnita]

My neighbor hosted a student from Germany.  They were watching TV one evening and Debbie prepared some popcorn for everyone. 

He was horrifed - HORRIFIED - that the popcorn was buttered and salted.  Apparently he'd only ever had sugared popcorn.  Now that would horrify me!   

My family had the same reaction from our German guest.

[Anniissa]

My neighbor hosted a student from Germany.  They were watching TV one evening and Debbie prepared some popcorn for everyone. 

He was horrifed - HORRIFIED - that the popcorn was buttered and salted.  Apparently he'd only ever had sugared popcorn.  Now that would horrify me!   

As a UK teen I had never experienced buttered or salted popcorn.  Popcorn over her is normally covered in toffee that is left to harden and go crunchy (it's hard to describe!) - the brand "Butterkist" is what UK people normally think of when you say popcorn.  Over the last maybe 5-10 years microwave popcorn has become more popular over here and I know most of my friends and I would choose the sweet version over salted/buttered but we would still choose toffee over sweet if that makes sense?

Really? As a fellow Brit that surprises me a little as I don't think I've seen the hard toffee butterkist type popcorn in years. I didn't even realise you could still buy it. I remember eating it when I was a lot younger but haven't seen anything but sweet or salted for a long time. Salted seems to be much more popular now than it used to be. Obv I must be a bit weird cos I love buttered popcorn (you have to eat it quickly whilst it's still all hot and gorgeous as it does get a bit nasty when its cooled down!). I used to get buttered popcorn at the cinema in England when I was a teenager so at least some places used to sell it. Actually haven't seen it in years so I guess it wasn't that popular...

[nyarlathotep]

With regards to high fructose corn syrup, that substance can cause digestive problems in people who aren't used to it--so go easy on things with that in it. HFCS is not used often in the UK--in fact I think it may be banned in foods, but I can't find anything to substantiate that so I'm probably wrong. Either way your guest probably won't be accustomed to it.