Pucker Up

Having lived in Brussels for a year now, I feel like I have adjusted fairly well to most Belgian/European customs. However, no matter how long I live here, I don't think I will ever get used to the "air kisses" that all Europeans do as a gesture when greeting and leaving each other's company.

There are several bad things about these air kisses. The first problem is that no country seems to have a set number of air kisses. Some people say that Belgians give three air kisses, but then some say two, and others argue one. Most Brits seem to give one, but say a Brit and a Belgian are greeting each other, then how many should they give? What generally ends up happening to me is that I have no clue how many to give, so I start with one kiss and then pull away, but then the other person still has their cheek sticking out so I mumble something about, "Oops, I didn't know how many kisses to give." and then I go back in for another one. Talk about awkward!

However, the most embarrassing thing that happened to me recently concerning kissing was with our friends Emily and Andrew (they are Brits). We were leaving their house, but after we had gotten our coats on, we started into a deep discussion about something, so I wasn't thinking about leaving (and getting myself mentally prepared for how many kisses to give). So all the sudden the conversation ends and I see Andrew all puckered up and heading for my lips and I freaked out! Luckily he just went ahead and kissed my cheek since I was standing there like a deer in headlights, but for a split second all that was in my mind was, "Oh my gosh, Andrew is about to kiss me and Kyle and Emily are standing right here!!!!!" Of course I couldn't hide my deer in headlights look, so I then had to explain to all of them that I thought Andrew was about to kiss me on the lips, which gave them all a good laugh.

And even harder situation is when you are greeting a fellow American here in Belgium--should you do the typical American hug, or the Belgian kiss? Personally, I like to stick with the hug, but most Americans seem to have adapted to the kiss better than I have, so that is what usually happens. Not that I think every man is trying to kiss me, but the other day we were at church and after having greeting many Americans with the awkward hug/air kiss thing I went to greet our minister. Well he skipped over the hug part and went straight for the kiss and again I thought, "Oh my gosh, the minister is about to kiss me on the lips!!!" Maybe I should just start sticking out my hand for a handshake long before anyone can pucker up...