Kissing,, how often??

[kerouac]

You leave them where they are. (This reminds me of people who say they smoke because they "don't know what to do with their hands.")

[Anne]

Aug 22, 2009 14:39:10 GMT -5 denise said:

I think I'll just give a little wave, smile and say Hello

keep my hands firmly by my side. Maybe because I am British they will think I'm just stiff.

Come on Denise, don't pretend that you are incapable, we DID kiss several times already and I have no memory that you were doing badly !

I think that I kiss right cheek first most of the time but it is difficult to tell, it's just something that one does without thinking and there is a kind of interactive body communication between the two kissers which tells the other one which side he is supposed to go for.

Kerouac's "kissing protocol" is very true, although things also depend very much on whether the person that you're dealing with is "inviting" or not. Like I've never considered kissing the mother of my best friend because she is quite cold and stiff (the mother, not my friend), but I kissed Megan's parents as soon as I met them, and so did my daughter (this "osmosis" thing ...) ;D !

[Shoesy]

Anne - I think what Denise meant was that she was afraid of all this body contact for fear of contracting the swine flu. Even though I haven't met Denise yet, she seems like she's indeed a real huggy-kissy type of gal.

[GitteK]

Aug 22, 2009 16:42:20 GMT -5 nutsabouttravel said:

I never worried about the kissing thing before, just followed the lead of the other person. Now, I may be overthinking this. Where the heck do you put your hands when you are doing the kiss if hugging is OUT???
mary

I put my right hand lightly on the person's left upperarm - which makes it more natural to go "left cheek => right cheek", like crossing diagonally over, so to speak.

With Denise and the other Wild Women, I just brutally bearhug them while kissing, it's a lot easier...... ;D ;D I am a bit more gentle with Anne, though......

[denise]

ANNE SAID>>Come on Denise, don't pretend that you are incapable, we DID kiss several times already and I have no memory that you were doing badly !<<

Yes but Anne I know you and you are French. So it doesn't matter if i make a bo-bo! LOL



GITTE SAID>>Denise and the other Wild Women I just brutally bearhug while kissing, it's a lot easier...... Am a bit more gentle with Anne, though <<

Yes but Gitte I know you and you are Danish so it doesn't matter if I make a bo-bo.


The strange thing is that in my local (northern England working class) culture it is not the norm for women to shake hands or hug or kiss when meeting people. Unless they are very dear friends, then they hug. Men here, may just about shake hands if it's very formal, never with friends, they just backslap. But the really odd thing is that anyone who I know has lived IN France like my daughter in law, I kiss on both cheeks and friends who have been to Paris with me ( which is growing in number!!) We also kiss on both cheek.

It's like a secret club (we've been to Paris and we KNOW!!) LOL ;

Last night on TV there was performance at the Appollo, of a Brithish comedian, Michael Mckintyre, who dealt with this subject of kissing inthe most hilarious way, I tried to find it on youtube but couldn't., but it is so funny I decided to post the performance anyway. It's in 3 parts. I hope you find it as funny as i do.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Es2l4yUBY6M

Denise
love from England

[sunshine817]

Anne, I'm glad you said that -- I kept thinking I usually kiss right cheek first, too, but like you said, it becomes such second nature that I don't consciously make the decision. Hands? Usually just at my sides -- although so many times at school and at home, someone's hands are full, so we just lean towards one another.

It gets truly psychotic when school is in session, because as an international school we are by definition from every corner of the globe. So I kiss my French friends, kiss my Dutch friend when we haven't seen each other for a while (after breaks and such), but wouldn't dream of kissing my American or English friends.

In our group of friends, we all kiss on leaving and entering -- except my American pal and I -- we just thought it was far too strange.

[kerouac]

I have a few American friends in Paris, and we kiss because we live in Paris.

[sunshine817]

I have colleagues in the US who lean in for a one-cheek kiss...and if we're at a function in Europe, it becomes two. I routinely kiss my English colleagues -- again, one in England, two on the Continent.

I do kiss with some American friends here -- the point was that it starts to get really flaky when you start adding in other cultures.

[kerouac]

This morning on the radio, there was mention of the French kissing customs (it was in relation to the so-called German relaxed attitude to public nudity and yet how many of them freeze up at the kiss, just like Americans).

A sociologist mentioned that the kissing tradition can be easily compared to dogs sniffing each other, because really quite a bit of information is exchanged -- you get an immediate feel of whether the person is cold, scared, uptight, enthusiastic, warm, excessive, sincere or insincere -- when meeting them for the first time, and even with people that you kiss every day, part of their mood will come across.

In any case, the tradition is definitely on the rise, because men kiss each other a lot more easily than they used to. In the past, it was reserved for family members or just your very closest friends, but now all sorts of casual friends kiss each other, even in high school, which is a place where adolescents have always been known to have a lot of trouble with ambiguous body language.

[slowpoke]

Denise,

Thanks for the Michael Mckintyre link. He is hysterical ;D ;D ;D

[denise]

>>Denise,

Thanks for the Michael Mckintyre link. He is hysterical <<


;D Nancy, so glad someone else thinks he is funny. I watched this twice and laughed till I cried each time! ;D ;D

The bit about the "man" drawer, and the loft is hysterical but in our house it's ME!

Love Denise

[gertie]

A kiss map, Kerouac? How very droll!

[keylimejet]

I have neighbors from Normandy, and we are becoming friends, so it's my first prolonged experience with the kissing thing. I've noticed that if one of us just stops by the other's house for a minute during the daytime, there's no kissing. However, if we have each other over for dinner, then we kiss hello and goodbye. So I guess it can depend on the type of social occasion as well?

Joy

[brettj]

Whew! So now I know. We've had French visitors few months back and we didn't know how to respond. Thanks!

[cigalechanta]

My friends in Provence kiss me on both sides and a friend in Normandy gives me 4. I found it varies throughout France