faire la bise

How long have I been studying French and the French culture... over twenty years? And still there are so many things that remain mysterious to me. One of these is the custom of kissing each other on the cheek when you greet someone. I really thought I had this down, and that my only challenge was how many times to kiss. Boy, was I wrong, even about how many times. It seems to be twice here, although I see the kids kissing four times. Will I ever figure it out?

La bise is such an important greeting that it can take forever to walk my students to class, especially in the morning. If they haven't already seen someone, they have to stop and do la bise or shake hands. Initially, I found this a charming custom, but when I've only got them for 55 minutes and we've still not reached the classroom, time is ticking away. Still charming, though time consuming, is that teachers stop the common area, a line of rowdy students trailing behind, to faire la bise. What I can't figure out is why I am not expected to do this with every teacher. Is it just the ones that I've spent time with? Why don't all of them do it?

Rachel, one of the employees at school, used to say, "You never do la bise with me" when I'd say hello to her. I explained that it's just not a habit, and I have to remind myself to do it. So I've really been making an effort to greet her with la bise. I thought things were going well, until the other day. It was the afternoon, and when I moved towards her, she said, "But we've already seen each other today."

This evening, I accompanied the 6e to a show at the Maison de la Culture in Amiens. While we were waiting outside, a teacher from school and his wife walked up. I have met Catherine, so I greeted her with la bise. Then, I felt a bit awkward as I moved towards Pierre. He hesitated, and then said, "Oh that's right, we didn't see each other at school today," so I was saved.

Here's the rule: you only greet people with la bise once a day. I know this, but the problem is remembering who I've seen. I have heard people ask, "Have I said hello to you yet today?" Clearly I must include this question in my repertoire to avoid future embarrassment.