I’ve never been a fan of the french kiss – the cheek-to-cheek air kiss French people do that is, not the tongue tied kiss we label French. There’s little intimacy or even familiarity in a touching of cheeks, though a couple of Belgian women proved that lips to cheek could go a long way. Instead, I prefer hugs.
Hugs can be brief and involve little contact. They can be fierce and friendly. They can be prolonged and full-contact. There are many choices for the variety of situations we find ourselves in and, unless you’re forced to do it with someone slimy, they feel so much better than a french kiss.
So I was disappointed to find that when I returned to Australia, the hug had been replaced. My memory was of a hug being the first choice of greeting between men and women or women and women and a cheek kiss an additional extra. Perhaps I had blown that up in my mind because I missed it so much, but the hug has been sadly lacking in recent years. People now move directly for the cheek-to-cheek air kiss and seem to be surprised when I try to hug them.
But yesterday as I was walking into the station, I saw a young boy running for his train, stopping to hug a few friends along the way. These girls welcomed the hugs and as I went on, I noticed that they were hugging other friends as they arrived. The natural way they did it showed that this is something they do regularly (every day?) and would probably go on doing it for years to come.
May Australia return to being the land of hugs!