Food

Episode 42: Experiences of Being a New Homestay Host from Jennifer Longworth

November 12, 2019 Homestay Kitchen Communication, Food, Guests, Short-term hosting 00:37:28

In today’s episode, Erin had work to do, so Mary got to chat with Jennifer Longworth from Lexington, Kentucky. A new host parent who’s only hosted a total of 3 times for very short periods and all from Japan. We talk through what it’s like to be a very new host and what were some of the most surprising aspects of hosting. And it wouldn’t be right to talk to our fellow neighbours to the south without pointing out a couple of differences from our countries, like hockey for us and southern food for her.

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Episode 41: Food & Meals for Your Students

November 4, 2019 Homestay Kitchen Communication, Cooking with Students, Food, Long-term hosting, Short-term hosting 00:41:35

How do you meal prep for your students? What do you incorporate into your meal plans for them? Food is a big factor when it comes to homestay experiences. Not only the culture of different foods to eat and explore, but also how we eat and when.

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Episode 40: Fearless Communication Skills and Owning Your Moxie with Heather Thompson

October 28, 2019 Homestay Kitchen Communication, Food, Guests, Long-term hosting, Short-term hosting, Travel 00:50:10

One of the major challenges of hosting international students is to navigate the language barrier. Communication is key to any relationship, so how do you have the confidence to speak your mind when your student doesn’t speak your language? At times you need to be fearless and in today’s episode we chat with Heather Thompson who shares this grit with a side of humour.

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Episode 37: Erin & Mary’s Favourite Things

October 7, 2019 Homestay Kitchen Communication, Food, Self Care 00:43:55

What are some of your favourite things? Things to indulge in, to keep you calm, or things that you love and won’t give up. What can’t you live without?

In this episode, we go through some of our favourite things. Whether they are student-related or personally loved by us, we share what keeps our hearts-a-flutter. Full disclosure, there’s a lot of food-related items. So get to know us and then let us know if you love the same things. Or if you have something that we need to know about. Maybe one of our future favourite things is actually one of yours that we don’t know about yet. So please let us know what you love to keep your life buzzing. Email us or find us on Instagram! We’d love to know. Thanks!

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Episode 36: Part 2 – Sending Your Kids to Study Abroad and the Homestay Industry with Jennifer Wilson from the Canada Homestay Network

September 30, 2019 Homestay Kitchen Family, Food, Guests, Long-term hosting, Parenting, Short-term hosting, Travel 00:25:18

This is part two of our conversation with Jennifer Wilson, the Managing Director of the Canada Homestay Network. As relationship experts, they are not only working with you as a homestay host, but also juggling relationships with agencies, student’s parents, and of course, the students themselves. However, in this episode, we hear how Jennifer’s role reverses by sharing her experience of being a parent sending her daughter to study abroad. Plus, we discuss the future of the homestay industry, and dive more into common issues that hosts might navigate through during their homestay hosting journey.

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Episode 33: World Student Day with Languages Canada

July 22, 2019 Homestay Kitchen Food, Guests, Travel 00:36:34

What if we had a day to celebrate our world’s diversity by bringing the world to your doorstep? Well you’re in luck. World Student Day is on July 26th, 2019. This free public event is happening across Canada brought to you by Languages Canada, the voice of the Canadian language education sector.

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Episode 30: We Are Canadian Through Multiculturalism, Diversity, and Being Very Apologetic

July 1, 2019 Homestay Kitchen Family, Food, Holiday, Travel 00:40:57

There is a very famous “I am Canadian” rant that went along with a beer commercial back in the late ’90’s. In the same vein, in this episode we talk about how we love all things Canadian. It’s Canada Day and we are proud Canadians who will share with you some of our favourite or well-known Canadian musicians, inventions, and of course, we wouldn’t be the Homestay Kitchen without talking about food.

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Episode 25: Food Culture and Improving Your Food Relationship with Carla Beer-Carpenter

May 27, 2019 Homestay Kitchen Communication, Cooking with Students, Food, Guests, Long-term hosting, Short-term hosting 00:45:18

Food brings people together, but what if food becomes a barrier? Eating disorders are mental health issues and some students arrive with a negative dependency on food, without you even noticing. So what are the clues? Today, we chat with Carla Beer-Carpenter, a registered dietitian for almost 30 years with a passion for helping people improve their relationship with food while working towards their health and nutrition goals.

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Episode 24: Financial Reality of Hosting Homestay Students

May 20, 2019 Homestay Kitchen Birthdays, Cooking with Students, Family bonding, Food, Holiday, Homestay Kitchen News, Long-term hosting, Short-term hosting 00:42:29

Okay let’s get real. One of the top or main reasons families participate in a homestay program is so that they can make some money or at least they think they can. Heck, it’s why we both started looking into the opportunity for our own families. However, over time it becomes more than that.

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Episode 23: Positivity, an Open Heart, and Hosting in Toronto with Rosalyn Benatar

May 13, 2019 Homestay Kitchen Food, Guests, Holiday, Long-term hosting, Parenting, Short-term hosting, Travel 00:34:40

How do your intentions bring out the best in your family to have a successful homestay experience? What differences do the big city of Toronto and the west coast of Canada provide to an international student? In this episode, we chat with Rosalyn Benatar, a recent transplant from Toronto to Victoria, BC. 

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