My family enjoys hosting international students in our home, especially during holidays. When we lived in Denver we connected with Taiwanese students studying at Denver University. They brought us much joy and laughter. We loved them and we especially enjoyed their innocent cultural and linguistic faux-pas.
One Easter a graduate student spent the weekend with us as we went about all our Easter activities. She joined us for a wonderful Good Friday service at our church. Saturday, she joined our kids in coloring eggs and joined them in an Easter egg hunt. We had meals that represented our cultural Easter celebration including favorites like deviled eggs. The climax was joining a Sunday morning celebration with over 10,000 people at an outdoor amphitheater.
As I was taking our friend home following the full weekend, I inquired about her favorite part of Easter. I expected her to say something about the beauty of the contemplative Good Friday service, or the Sunday morning celebration, or possibly hunting for Easter eggs. However, I was surprised when she said her favorite part of the weekend were the “evil eggs.” I paused … evil eggs? It took me a minute before I figured out that she had transposed “deviled eggs” to “evil eggs.” We enjoyed a good laugh together then and several times since then. This person, now a DU graduate, remains a friend and still joins us for holidays from time to time.
As we approach Easter this weekend, I encourage you to find an international student, or someone else who normally wouldn’t be a part of your family, to share your life and your celebration. You will be glad you reached out.
That is hilarious. I love it!