An introduction to an American holiday

Rileys among folks opening doors to show Japanese students Thanksgiving customs

SOAP LAKE — Turns out the gesture to pass the turkey is understandable in any language.

On Monday, Bill and Sue Riley were one of several families to play host this week to students in Big Bend Community College's Japanese Agricultural Training program.

Heather Eby, program secretary, said six different households would be greeting students for the actual Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday, and another holding a special dinner on Friday.

"We've always tried to make sure all the trainees that want to go, we try to find a spot for them," Eby said. "They learn about American customs and it also gets them a place to spend the holiday, because the college campus is closed for traditional students."

Next month, the students will be departing for farms where they will finish out the remainders of the two-year program, Eby added.

"So this helps them not only to learn about American culture, customs, but they get to practice their English with American families," she said. "That will be beneficial to them, going with a host family for the remainder of their time. Oftentimes, they are not going to have another Japanese trainee (with them on the long-term farm stays), so they have to speak English, so these visits out into the community help."

The Rileys said they have opened their doors to students in the program for about eight years.

"We fill them up, and they enjoy everything," Bill said. "One thing I noticed last year was one of the fellas took a knife and spread cranberries on his turkey. I've never seen it eaten that way."

On Monday, they hosted students A.J., Ken and Shabe, and gave them a Thanksgiving meal that included turkey, green beans, hot rolls, cranberry relish, corn, mashed potatoes and gravy and pumpkin pie, as well as their first taste of eggnog.

Only Shabe said he liked the opaque holiday drink, while Ken and A.J. said it was too heavy for their liking.

Bill said he and his wife try to offer a meal to students in every class of the agricultural training program, in the fall for students enrolled in the two-year program, and in the spring for students enrolled in the one-year program.

Bill and Sue engaged the students in conversation prior to the meal, finding their homes in Japan on a map Bill brought up from the basement, asking them questions about their lessons and their homes, and answering questions in return, as well as taking a tour of their Soap Lake home.

"I enjoy mostly them talking about their families," Sue said. "We enjoy having them tell about their families and their life there in Japan. Then we always try to give them an experience that they haven't had before. They're willing to try everything. They may not eat it all, but they will try it. Some of them like the pumpkin pie, there's a few of them that don't. They all enjoy the eggnog, and sometimes we serve them rum … I think they really like it, because we get to sit down at a table and we get to talk."

Sue said she would recommend hosting the students.

"It's a little a stressful sometimes because of the communication gap, but a lot of them will bring a little hand-held computer deal where they can translate it from Japanese to English or English to Japanese so they know what we're talking about, or they always talk with one another, so if one doesn't get it, then maybe the other one might pick up what we're saying," she said. "I think they enjoy it."

The students are always polite, respectful and interested in what the Rileys show them, she said.

Of the meal, A.J., Ken and Shabe all rang in with rave reviews.

"Very delicious," Ken and Shabe both said.

"Pretty good," A.J. said with a grin, noting that his favorite part was the turkey. Shabe liked the bread and the turkey, while Ken liked the potatoes and the bread. Oh, and the turkey …

"All," he said with a grin, amending his answer.