18 Kisses

Last night David and I went out to our K-group (Koinonia Group = small group / cell group / house group / home group), and I got 18 kisses (not from David). This is something to get used to in Europe (and probably many other non-U.S. locations), the greeting and farewell with a certain number of kisses on the cheek.

This Time article from 2004 details the specifics, e.g. two kisses in Spain, Austria, and Sweden, vs. three in Egypt, Russia, Switzerland and the Netherlands, and one, two, three, or four in various parts of France (see the cool kissing map for France color-coded by the appropriate number).

Worldhum.com gives this explanation about how it's not really kissing: "In general, gently touching your cheek to your recipient’s while pursing your lips and making a kissing sound does the trick. There’s no rule as to which cheek should get the initial kiss, but people often start the kissing to the right."

They also mention that in France "Among the 20- and 30-something generation it’s pretty much expected to kiss hello, even when meeting friends of friends for the first time."

So anyway, upon arrival, I got three kisses each from three men, and upon departure, another three kisses each from two men and a woman (it just depends who's around at the moment everyone's doing the greetings). I think this is the most I have gotten at one time, so I noticed it.

My favorite person to kiss is David. And my lips actually touch his skin :-)

Non-sequitor: came across this pretty and interesting map of what people call soft drinks in the U.S., by county. Having mostly lived in New England and California, you can see what I call it (but I don't usually drink any).

Had a nice visit with a friend this morning at my house by the fire with coffee / hot chocolate, getting to know each other a bit better. And now to finish the laundry and pack for our trip this weekend to Verbier!