The French hello: it’s not a handshake, it’s not a hug, it’s a brief set of kisses on the cheek. But as a foreigner, there is a certain level of awkwardness when you faire la bise for the first time. What cheek to offer? Who do you kiss? How many kisses do you give? It’s simple really: offer your right cheek and don’t kiss your superiors (i.e. your boss). But the confusion comes at the “how many?” part. Fortunately a smart Frenchman did a poll on just how many bises people were used to doing and put together this handy map. What does it tell us? That 2 is the most common, so for the socially conscious, if you’re not sure, go for the double-take and no more; there’s nothing worse than going in for one too many cheek kisses when the other person is already pulling away.

For more on just how to faire la bise in my post on Gadling, click here.