Cheek kisses how many

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Today, students from over countries study one of 9 languages at EF's 50 International Language Campuses in 19 countries around the world. Call us: Home Welcome to EF. Programs See everything we do. In France and other countries, however, the kiss is more common — not on the lips, but a symmetrical brush of the cheeks.

The image is well known in world culture and is a part of everyday life in much of Europe, but the ritual can seem impenetrable to the uninitiated. Would you kiss someone the same way in Marseilles as in Madrid? Which cheek should you present first? And how many kisses? To better understand the question of how one greets a friend or family member with a kiss in Europe, I decided to map it.

First things first, while many Anglo-Saxons believe that kissing as a greeting is unique to France, the practice is common in a wide range of European and Latin countries, as well as Russia and certain Arabic and sub-Saharan nations. Its origin is unknown, though there are many theories. Is it a ritualized form of ancestral behavior, like sniffing each other for recognition, or is it an emotional one arising from childhood? The ritual appears to date back to antiquity and has known highs and lows throughout modern human history.

Rather than shaking hands, waving hello or hugging, you lean forward, touch cheeks and kiss the air while making a kissing sound with your lips. Cheek kissing, as a way of greeting other people, is engrained in the French culture and pretty much institutionalized from Childhood In France. A regular kiss is called un bisous, or un baiser.

There are many more ways to say kiss in French. There are situations where you can greet friends of friends, acquaintances and even co-workers with a cheek kiss but watch out. There are certain unsaid rules and nuances that can vary by region, person or by situation.

La Garde is a charmingly picturesque town in Provence pictured above. Old ladies carrying baguettes, a medieval church, a decaying castle at the top of a hill, and where everyone seems to know everyone else. Not like bigger cities that attract large amounts of people from all over the world, which suited us just fine.

Every morning, my husband I got dressed and eagerly walked our daughter to school. It was less than a 5-minute walk, but we lived in the medieval part of the town, where people always seemed to be shuffling around trying to get someplace. On the market days, we would double back to the market after we dropped off our daughter at school and buy produce, meat, cheese or whatever we needed.

It was super convenient, and soon people started recognizing us. We became good friends with one of the vendors who sold plants and flowers. He sells shiitake mushrooms and strawberries now at La Serre du Plan. Sometimes we would cross paths with our neighbours or other parents at that market and stop to chat a while before continuing on our merry way.

I had seen hundreds of people greet each other with a cheek kiss , so theoretically, I understood how it was done. In practice, it was another story. The ritual appears to date back to antiquity and has known highs and lows throughout modern human history.

Sometimes it was encouraged, other times forbidden. The question becomes even more complex when one tries to understand contextual factors. Kissing between men was once stigmatized, yet is common in certain contexts and some Slavic cultures. For the past 15 years or so, this ritual has been a regular subject of online debate.

Some of the discussions are about how many kisses one should give. To better understand the question, from to we conducted a series of online surveys. Our initial map was based on answers from more than 18, respondents who said they had spent the bulk of their youth in Belgium, France or Switzerland. We tracked the responses for each district in Belgium, France and Switzerland, retaining the number with the highest percentage of responses.

The results are striking and show a number of clear patterns. Two kisses are also customary in the French-speaking parts of Switzerland. In northern France, the areas in pink correspond to places where people still give four kisses. However, data indicate that in these regions the four-kiss greeting has stiff competition from the two-kiss version.

As can be seen on the maps below, the custom of four kisses is more prevalent among older residents of France, primarily in eastern Brittany and the Loire region.