The Best Friend Tag

Hey guys, you probably don’t know me (and if you do it probably means that you’ve come over here from my blog so if you have then thank you so much!), my name is Inspired Teen and I have come from my blog – lifeofaninspiredteen.wordpress.com. It is such a privilege to be writing this amazing guest post/collaboration on my best friend’s blog. This is my first ever collaboration and I am so excited to be doing it here.

My best friend is partially responsible for my blog so I have a lot to be grateful for. She encouraged me to get my own blog – not verbally even but just by having her own blog she inspired me to start mine and I am so glad that I did! I know mine will never be half as good as hers but I love it just the way it is.

Also, I would just like to shout out to sprinklesandsparklesx.wordpress.com who’s Best Friend Tag inspired me to write this post for your guys today and to have my best friend doing the same over on my blog.

Anyway… let’s get into the post!

When and where did you and your best friend meet?

We met at a week-long camp for home-educated people back in July 2013. I was running a dance workshop there and so had managed to get in for free as the cost was quite high and she came to my workshop every single day for five days. She was the one person who I could always guarantee would turn up and it was very motivating – especially given that the week we were camping was very hot and so I wasn’t sleeping well and was a bit tired and grumpy and it was hard to get the energy up to actually run the workshop but I’m glad that I did. Funnily enough we didn’t start our friendship whilst at the camp all that much; we exchanged e-mail addresses kind of as an after thought and then became best friend’s that way. To be honest, I never would have thought we would have become as close as we now are and if you had told me on the first day of camp three years ago that she would now be my best friend and I would be doing the best friend tag on her blog and her on mine, I never would have believed you.

Why are they your best friend?

Jamila is my best friend because she was always interested in me and what I had to say, she always wanted to write me e-mails twice as long as the e-mails I’d written to her in response to what I had said in mine, she never discarded all of my comments and tried to make her e-mails as short as possible (unlike some annoying people in society where you send them three massive long paragraphs in a text and they reply with ‘k’), she remained on good terms with me even early on in our friendship when I would be so lazy that I wouldn’t reply to her e-mails for weeks and weeks. She’s my best friend because I never have to explain anything to her in further detail than I already have, she just understands me in a way no one else does. She doesn’t judge me for my interests or my tastes in music or TV etc. and she is always willing to listen to me obsess over things without making a fuss or telling me to “shut up” like other people I know. She’s my best friend because we can sit on the sofa not talking, staring at our phones and it doesn’t seem awkward or anti-social it’s a nice comfortable silence where we feel we can do our own thing without worrying about what the other is doing.

Is there anything you would change about your best friend?

Her music taste. Just because I want to be able to go to concerts with her and I’m pretty sure that she wouldn’t really fit in with the boyband crowd of screaming twelve-year-olds and I wouldn’t really fit into the crowd of dread-locked-heavy-eyelinered-metal fans. Whilst I’m sure we will go to a concert together one day it will probably take a lot of negotiation and compromise, so I look forward to it!

What is the one thing you admire most about your best friend?

There are so many things that I admire, but I think the thing I admire most is her ability to make anything sound interesting, and she always thinks about things in such an interesting way. She never has thoughts that she doesn’t really consider, she always knows why she has those thoughts and she can always explain why she thinks things. There are many occasions when we will be talking on the phone and she will talk in a continuous stream for about 10-20 minutes and eventually she’ll stop and apologise for talking for so long and make a comment about how I was probably really bored and if I ever get bored to tell her that I’m bored and to ‘shut up’ but in actual fact, even when the thing she’s talking about isn’t something I’m normally interested in, just the way she says it or how passionate she clearly is makes me interested and that’s a very admirable thing. For example, she did an absolutely amazing and engaging post called A Band That’s Actually A Gang about a band called ‘The World Inferno Friendship Society’ and whilst I know that she likes them and we’ve talked about them, I was particularly impressed with this post because not only did it take her about two weeks to write because she wanted to perfect it, but it was also just so engaging and interesting to read even though I don’t generally have an interest in the band.

What is one thing that only you and your best friend understand?

Printing

How would you describe your best friend’s ideal partner?

Long hair (but not too long), wears eyeliner, wears band t-shirts, likes the same music as Jamila, understands and is interested in her, no facial hair, tall, has good facial structure (and no crinkles under the eyes when they smile).

Does your best friend like loud music or music that is at a reasonable level?

I mean let’s be fair, Jamila is a heavy metal/post punk/gothic rock fan, her music is going to be pretty loud at all times. Sometimes it’s so bad that when I’m talking to her on the phone all I can hear is her music and I kind of have to strain to hear her even though her mouth is directly next to the phone and her music is not. I never know whether to tell her to turn it down… eventually she realises and turns it down and it clearly hasn’t affected our relationship so who really cares?

What does your best friend think about the most?

To be honest, because Jamila is such an interesting person I don’t know what she thinks about the most. I know things she thinks about a lot but not necessarily the most. I think she tends to think about many different things at the same time and it’s all kind of rotating round her head 24/7. She quite often mentions having a fear of talking disjointedly in a way that doesn’t make sense and I think that this just further proves my point that she is never thinking about only one thing. As I said above, she always talks about things in a really interesting way so I guess she’s always kind of thinking about all of these things in a really intelligent way.

Describe your best friend in one word?

Phenomenal

What are three things your best friend doesn’t know about you?

• That I dry my hair with my head upside down
• That I used to take my posters off my wall whilst getting dressed because I felt it was too awkward having them “watch me get dressed” even though they were pieces of paper.
• That the Kurt Cobain ‘montage of heck’ documentary is in my Netflix ‘To-Watch’list.

Oh wow, that went way too quickly, however it really is a lot of words so I hope you’re still here! I really hope you’ve enjoyed this post and have learnt something from the insight into Jamila’s life and her personality (and of course read a post by her amazing best friend! ;)) I’ve really enjoyed writing this post for you guys and I’m sure we will do another collaboration for you as soon as we can!

If you did enjoy this post please give it a like – if you’ve come from my blog please stick around and check out Jamila’s posts and give her a follow (she would love it if you did!). Once you’ve done all of that you can of course go and check out my blog if you haven’t already – https://lifeofaninspiredteen.wordpress.com/ and make sure to give me a follow too – especially so you can read Jamila’s post on me!

I would like to get in contact with me for any reason please feel free to get in touch using my e-mail – aninspiredteen@gmail.com

That’s all for now!

Inspired Teen 🙂

A Day in The Life of an Unschooler

I am sitting on my bed in front of my computer, which is resting on a chest of drawers that doubles as my bedside table. My mother told me yesterday that sitting less than twenty centimeters away from your computer is bad. It can make you especially susceptible to cancer, she said. Something to do with radiation. I will have to look that up. My back is slouched. That is also bad. It is slightly uncomfortable and, apparently, can prevent your spine from setting straight if done excessively in your formative years. I keep telling myself to straighten up, but this takes effort and is also slightly uncomfortable, so I opt for the easier option: slouching. I will sit up straight later on at dinner.

Speaking of which, I am hungry now. I can hear the clashing of pots and pans in the kitchen. I believe that is a signal that dinner is being made. From the sound of it, my father is cooking. I know it’s him because firstly, he slams things and works with a speed and urgency I believe is unnecessary; the dishes sound as if they are being bashed against the counter and the chopping of carrots resounds throughout the house like a series of distant executions. Secondly, my mother’s voice is closer to here than it is to the kitchen, so I know that she cannot be in there cooking. I have a feeling I should be offering to help. I will go to help.

I offered to help and was told to put away my clothes instead.

I put away my clothes. I had some mild and some not-so-mild digs made at me. I had dinner, which was rice noodles fried with vegetables. (I think I forgot to sit up straight!) I re-watched a film with my family called A Long Way Down. It is about four strangers who become acquainted with one another on New Year’s Eve at the top a building they plan to jump off.

This morning I went for a run. It was not a satisfying run because it mostly consisted of short self-conscious stretches of running interspersed with long self-conscious stretches of walking. However, it was a start to an attempt at fitness. It gave me a vague feeling of achievement.

The next thing of relevance that I did was copywork. Now, copywork, for those unacquainted, is a writing exercise where you copy passages from good books to improve your writing. The idea is that the grammar, punctuation and sentence structure get embedded into your brain, and you naturally widen your vocabulary. It is something I actually find quite fun. This is why: I only copy from things that interest me.

After that, I had a phone conversation with my friend. We discussed birthdays, reading and the POSSIBILITY of an upcoming trip to Paris. We both have our birthdays in the next few months. She says, “If you can’t do something exciting on your birthday, then do something vaguely exciting.”

What Would You Say In 10 Seconds To Your Best Friend?

You might have read my previous posts about a bucket list my friend (whom I shall refer to as ‘C’) wrote for me. She sent it along with a letter explaining that I didn’t have to do anything on it that was out of my comfort zone, but she thought that I might enjoy doing the things she’d written down. One of the items on the list happened to be “Call the same friend every day for a week”. I decided the person I would call would be her, partly because no-one else would be able to tolerate talking to me for a week, and partly because she was the person I most enjoy speaking with on the phone.

Before you carry on reading, I suggest you take a look at my previous posts about the bucket list C wrote for me:
I Am Going To Have A Shower Fully Clothed
Why My Pyjamas Were Soaking On Friday

Of course, you don’t have to read them to understand this post, I just thought that you might enjoy checking them out. (I know, I need to do something about my ego…)

LOL sorry about the ad break 🙂

Now, I feel incredibly bad making calls from my mobile when the person I’m talking to doesn’t use Giffgaff. I use Giffgaff. C doesn’t have Giffgaff. That means that whenever I call her from there, a relatively large amount of money gets extracted from my credit. Then I feel bad having to ask my father to top up my phone. So when C and I speak to each other, either she has to call me (her contract is different, meaning it’s free to call my mobile) or we have to use our home phones. Which isn’t always as practical. It’s not as straightforward to use, and there’s always the issue of someone else picking up the phone. In fact, quite recently I phoned and her sister picked up. “Hello?” she said. I thought it was C speaking. “You always answer the phone when I’m coughing,” I replied with a laugh. An awkward pause ensued.
“Do you want me to pass you over to C?” said the voice on the other end of the line. That was when I realised it wasn’t C. Oh SHOOT.

“Yes please,” I replied meekly. *Cringe*… You always answer the phone when I’m coughing. Seriously?

I initially had to clarify the definition of “Call the same friend every day for a week” with C, because I wasn’t sure whether it counted if she called me. But it turned out it did count, which helped a whole lot.

The hardest part about phoning each other every day for a week was finding the time. Sometimes we wouldn’t be home at the same time, and sometimes we’d have to call each other more than once in the day to continue the conversation. The funniest thing was when we both only had 10 seconds to phone each other before we needed to go to sleep. This only happened about twice and it was hilarious rushing to recount the details of the day in the little time that we had. I remember once at around 11:30 at night, C had got home late after the electric car had stranded her and her family miles from home. She told me the story in about forty seconds (which exceeded the ten we had agreed on).

The once-a-day-for-a-week calls were an epic way to catch up with each other. And they eliminated my fear of phones. Well, almost. I didn’t have a huge fear of calling people – it was very far from an official phobia -, but speaking to folks I know still made me nervous. Anyway, now that’s almost gone! I also got to hear a lot of gossip (bitchy girls in college… always intriguing to hear about, unless you happen to be the one that they’re being bitchy to) so that was interesting…

Something quick that I want to add is that the first time I ever spoke to C on the phone, I was terrified. Irrationally nervous because it had been months since we’d seen each other. But now, it’s the opposite.

Amy Winehouse Reincarnated As A Pair Of Shoes?

After our upstairs neighbors moved out a few weeks ago, some clothes arrived for them in the post. It wasn’t worth us posting the clothes to them. And the neighbors weren’t coming back. They gave us permission to keep them. My sister and I were then in a dilemma of whether to sell the clothes on Ebay or to wear them. If we kept them we could DIY ’em into something worth wearing. But they were so formal. Selling the clothes could earn us some cash. Which would mean money to buy band shirts or actual gig tickets. We decided on the Ebay option. As a result, I stayed up late crafting the perfect listing for a pair of shoes included with the clothes. Had real fun with that! Here’s what I wrote:

“Completely new, never-worn pointed black loafers with tassel features, metal heel decoration and crimping on the edges from Next. Size 3.5 UK (36 EUR)

These shoes are perfect for the young business executive seeking to make a name for herself in the corporate world. They are smart, with shiny heels and are guaranteed to help you navigate your way around the workplace – giving you confidence as you work your way up the business ladder. They are elegant enough to catch envious glances from your colleagues and co-workers and retain their utilitarian values.

They are not scratched or missing items of decoration at all. They are not dirty or dusty, and they do not have bleach stains on them. Neither do they have chocolate stains or grease marks from sugar-cookie batter. Or pancake batter. They have not been dragged through any muddy puddles, swamps or nuclear power stations. In fact, you will find no traces of plutonium or mercury on them, or any radioactive substances for that matter. I have searched thoroughly for any remnants of Martian viruses, and found my result to be negative. So there won’t be any risk of catching interplanetary diseases. There is not a scratch on the shoes’ soles, only the carefully crafted ridges in the rubber that ensure stable steps as you make your way around the shiny-floored offices of your new work building.

They have never been tried on, so there hasn’t been an opportunity for there to be tears, or holes in the bases. Neither have I soaked them in pancake batter or attempted to fry them tempura-style. In the same way, you won’t spot soya sauce stains adorning the lining, or Dorito crumbs that have accumulated at the bottoms of the shoes. You’ll be delighted to know that they haven’t been ripped apart by wild hyenas either. I have kept them well away from wild animals, and they’ve never come into contact with vicious boars or mentally ill lions. What else haven’t they come into contact with? Well, for starters, grizzly bears, Sumatran tigers, vengeful chimpanzees and pizza residue. I personally haven’t used the loafers as drinking vessels, but there’s no knowing what the staff at Next did with the shoes before they came into my possession. Possibly used them to hold spare bodily fluids while operating on A&E victims, as they struggled with the workload of juggling their job at Next and their responsibilities in the hospital where they work week-nights. But I can’t tell; I didn’t know the shoes back then. To be safe, if you have an issue with using blood-encrusted shoes, don’t buy them. I must say, I haven’t spotted any of that stuff though. So you should be safe.

I regret to inform you that the shoes I’m listing have not come into contact with Elvis Presley or Santa Claus. This might be partly due to the fact that Elvis died long before the shoes were manufactured, and Santa Claus is too busy crafting hand-made toys to deliver to us at Christmas time to try on ladies’ work shoes. Still, the fact that the products I am listing haven’t been inspected by the two above celebrities is not something I’m prepared to take lightly. My deepest apologies to you. I hope you can forgive this defect. Something else I would like to add is that Neil Armstrong did not wear the shoes on his trip to Earth’s only natural satellite. They haven’t been tried on by Barack Obama, Kurt Cobain, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix or Lady Gaga either. I hope you can overlook this issue and that our business relationship is not affected in any way by the shoes’ lack of a claim to fame. It would upset me if you were somehow affected by this turn of events. To make up for the issue, there is no saying that the Buddha didn’t bless them in a past life! Who knows? Maybe you will receive a renewal of positive energy from trying them on. Perhaps you’ll find a perpetual stream of income in your bank account. Your new promotion and serious elevation of office status might be a result of these loafers! Imagine eternal bliss, freedom from human suffering and free Chinese takeaways – all because you decided to buy this pair of shoes. Have you ever wanted a Mansion? A Harley Davidson? A free round-the-world trip with complementary head massages included? Well, all those things may possibly come into your possession on the off-chance that the Buddha blessed this footwear. Though why he would do such a thing remains a mystery to me. It might have been to illustrate the point that everything is connected and one with the universe. By blessing the footwear he was also blessing humanity and infinite matter. So if you want to take the chance, buy these shoes.

If it turns out that the Buddha didn’t bless them (after all, he was a spiritually enlightened person and not a bored teenager) then at least there is the chance that in previous lives, the shoes came into contact with every member of the Rolling Stones, the full lineup of The Beatles and everyone in the 27 Club. Hell, they could even have BEEN a member of a famous band. After all, there is no rule that a human can’t come back at a pair of shoes. Ever wanted to take Amy Winehouse into work? Well, now you (possibly) can.

Excluding the possibility that human beings can be reincarnated as work attire, here are some other reasons you might like to buy these shoes:

-I’ve never spat into them.
-My three-year-old toddler has never peed in them. I don’t even have a three-year-old toddler, so even better!
-In a previous life, they might have been the microphone that Jim Morrison sung into.
-I have not tried to use them as kindling when stranded in the middle of the Arctic.
-They have never belonged to Hitler.
-They have had no part in any kidnappings, burglaries or attempted bank robberies.
-Maybe you are the reincarnation of King Arthur and they are the reincarnation of Excalibur, and once you are united you will be unstoppable.
-You aren’t restricted to wearing them to work; if you want you can use them while hiking or canoeing in the Amazon. Just don’t blame me when you get blisters.
-These shoes will possibly make you a multi-millionaire because the shiny heels will dazzle your bosses into giving you extra pay.
-You might gain so much confidence from wearing these awe-inspiring shoes that you are motivated to study the art of hypnotism, thereby using your newly learnt skills on your landlord and never having to pay rent again.
-When they are too old to wear to work, job interviews, parties, gigs, mosh pits, engagement ceremonies, prize-givings, Arctic expeditions, circus performances, space travel and trips to Asda, you can burn them as central heating.
-You can stuff them down the throat of your least favourite politician.

Failing these, you and your mates can shrink down to fairy-size and use the shoes as rowing boats to  paddle down the sewer with. If you drown in feces don’t take me to court. Assuming that you don’t feel like immersing yourself in toilet water, you could always find a cheap cannon and fire your shoes at the noisy neighbours. They might complain to the police or die, but at least you would have got out the anger at that you’ve stored up inside. However, the alternative is to use them to grow garlic in. That way you will never have to face vampire attacks, and spending disproportionate amounts of money of on silver crucifixes and personal spell-casters will be unnecessary. If you don’t want to waste the shoes on growing garlic, but you hate jazz music, you could try hurling the loafers off your balcony at the head of the local pianist. But first make sure he actually plays jazz music, otherwise you’re wasting the shoes.

That’s just the tip of the iceberg. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions regarding the items in my listing, or if you have problems with determining the past-lives of footwear that come into your possession.”

I spent SO long typing that – see the splendidness of it? And after all that, the shoes sold for £11. The world is fair. Huh! I cannot believe that after all my hard work they only sold for eleven quid. And the person who bought them didn’t use capitals when they sent me their address. Seriously – how sloppy. I bet they didn’t even read the listing properly. I mean, it didn’t even go viral. At least I had fun writing it.

Dear reader, I commend you for getting this far. Your stamina is admirable – thank you!

In My Highly Unrealistic Fantasy

1. I live in a mansion and own a Harley Davidson.

2. My semi-permanent hair dye doesn’t run and stain towels when my hair comes into contact with water.

3. I am an award-winning author of several well-known, beautifully written bestselling novels that are sold around the world.

4. I always remember to take the croissant out of the toaster in time, thereby not setting off the smoke alarm.

5. I am in an artistically brilliant, awe-inspiring SUPER successful rock band.

6. I don’t get white lint on my black clothes.

7. I somehow miraculously master French and Spanish, and am also fluent in Italian, German, Latin, Japanese, Shorthand, Irish and some kind of Sign Language.

8. I do body-building, resulting in super-strong muscles and a killer running stamina.

9. I actually wake up relatively early…

10. I have plenty of excess time to spend on leisure activities and expanding my knowledge.

11. I manage to think up witty come-backs on the spot and not three months later.

12. I have tons of followers on WordPress (hint-hint).

13. I get round to stuff.

14. I can listen to multiple songs at the same time.

15. I don’t quake in fear at having to answer the phone.

16. I can devour books one after the other and still have time to have a life.

17. I am immune to colds.

18. I am the human manifestation of awesomeness.

19. I don’t lose guitar picks.

20. No-one needs the toilet when I’m taking a shower.

21. My pencils don’t mysteriously go missing every three seconds.

22. The Echinacea doesn’t run out by itself.

23. Andrew Eldritch is a nice person who actually cares about his fans…

24. I can sing. Actually sing. In tune. WELL.

25. Time appears to naturally slow down for me, and it takes longer for my birthday to come round each year.

26. I don’t do embarrassing things like mispronounce band members’ names.

27. Future generations worship me.

28. I don’t miss my tube stop.

29. My ESP skills improve so much that I don’t have to use up texting credit anymore.

30. I reach 30 feeling like I’ve done something with my life.

A big thank you to Diana from A Holistic Journey for giving me the idea for this with her “In My Fantasy” post! I found it on Harsh Reality, where she was a guest. Oh, and here’s part 2 for her “In My Fantasy” post. You should totally read her blog. Enjoy!

Finally, before I go: Tell me what’s in your fantasy. Response posts are also completely welcome 🙂

How To Fail Your Day

If you ever need any advice on how to fail your day, I am the ideal person to come to. Seriously, I swear that’s why god made me. Here are some tips to get you started. With some luck, you’ll soon become an expert like I am.

1. Think that despite waking up late, you still have a lot of time ahead of you to do useful things. Start your work. Then, realise that you forgot to eat breakfast. Waste five minutes of your life because you’re in a dilemma of whether to skip breakfast and get on with your day – at the risk of running out of fuel – or eat breakfast and feel full, but lose some time.

2. Decide not to eat your breakfast. Stare at the computer screen blankly while trying to remember why you opened it up. As soon as it comes to you, register the fact that you are dying for a piss. Go to the toilet, and afterwards get distracted by brushing your teeth (which you forgot to do earlier).

3. Wander into your bedroom and start tidying up, forgetting that work exists and needs to be done. Half finish the job before remembering your computer sitting open in the living room.

4. Rush back to the living room. Ooh, you better just quickly check your mail to see if you’ve got any WordPress updates. YES! You have an eff-load of e-mails telling you that so-and-so liked and commented on your post. In fact, your whole inbox is full of notifications. Forget that there is a “Mark As Read” button, and click each “like” notification e-mail just so that you don’t have anything “unread”. You could just look at them on WordPress, but that’s not the point; the point is to lessen the number of “unread” messages in your inbox. This should take quite a while.

5. Head over to your WordPress reader just to read a few posts. Then, notice that Opinionated Man has published a potentially offensive blog entry with a catchy title. Click on it and spend seven minutes smiling at the funny things he’s written, and then spend ten more trying to write a witty comment. Then read some stuff that he’s reblogged and end up following those people and reading all their latest posts.

6. Look at your watch with dismay when you see that you’ve just spent an hour filling your mind with other people’s thoughts and not having any useful brain activity. Decide to write your own post, but then spend 10 minutes trying to think of what it should be about. You haven’t read any interesting books lately, no-one famous has died and it’s not Valentine’s Day. Maybe you could write a review of that film you just watched?

7. Try to think of a clever opening sentence. Your brain will fail you for a quarter of an hour as your eyes glaze over the blank white draft. Finally figure something out, but then get stuck trying to think of synonyms for “very cool” and “great”. Fail to think of anything beyond “amazing” and “sweet”. Momentarily get stuck between them and then settle for the blander option.

8. After two hours of writer’s block, publish your post before realising that you forgot to tag it and add a photo. Complete the job and then get distracted answering comments. In a fit of martyrdom, close your WordPress tab, losing the draft of a response comment.

9. Get even more caught up in surfing the internet, losing track of time and the outside world. Notice how bloody hungry you are and open the fridge. Finding no inspiration there, decide to treat yourself by going out for some chips. Come home way later than you expected you would.

10. Begin your work, but then answer the phone. Have an hour-long conversation with your friend whom you haven’t seen in over a year. Afterwards, return to your work having lost ALL inspiration. Stay up into the night trying to rekindle the motivation you once possessed. Finally, go to bed late feeling like you’ve failed. Wake up late the next day as a result, and begin the cycle again.

For more tips, check out my other post: How To Procrastinate

Hug? Kiss? Handshake? – How Do YOU Greet People?

As a young child it was easy. All I had to do was say “hello,” wave and give a friendly smile. Saying my name wasn’t always necessary because there was usually an adult giving the introductions. Over the years it’s got harder, though, increasingly awkward with each meeting or acquaintance I’ve made. I’m talking about greetings. Not the greetings themselves, but the customary procedures that go with them.

What is the correct way of introducing yourself to someone else? Some people believe it’s a kiss on each cheek, while I’ve noticed others prefer handshakes, or in some cases, just a hug. There are endless possibilities and combinations. In Malaysia people use a “Salaam,” and in France, depending on the region, up to four kisses are given. The whole thing is an unnecessary landmine of errors and awkward tripwires.

Most of the time I end up giving a hug instead of the expected two kisses, or I only give one kiss instead of two. There are endless ways one can go “wrong,” which usually results in a lot of cringing on my part. Simply put: I hate greeting people. I’ve recently got to the age where the cheek-kissing is expected of me. The most confusing part about this is not knowing which cheek to start on, and how many times to kiss. Here in Britain the number tends to be one or two, but you never know which. It’s all extremely hazardous.

Whether or not to kiss also depends on the gender of the two people greeting. If you’re female, it’s normal to kiss other women on the cheek, but when greeting a male, sometimes a handshake is more appropriate – it all depends on the individuals. I’ve met other females who (much to my relief) only expected a hug or, even better, a handshake. But then, I’ve also seen Italian men kiss other men on the cheek as a greeting. There are no set rules.

Another layer of awkwardness is added when a British person is greeting  someone French. When this happens, the Brit usually stops at the second kiss but the French person goes for a third. *Winces* Neither of them are wrong; their cultures are just different. Not to say that the misshapen cheek-kissing mix-up can’t be resolved by a large friendly smile, but… wouldn’t the whole ordeal be prevented by everyone stopping the kiss-upon-greeting custom? Is it honestly too much to ask?

Do you have any cringe-worthy greeting-themed anecdotes you want to share? I’d love to hear them, so comment below XD

Oh, and quickly before I go, here are some interesting blogs I’ve picked for you to check out:

http://ateenagepoetslife.wordpress.com/ http://fallenfuries.wordpress.com/  http://weethingsblog.wordpress.com/

Thanks for reading this. Comment if you liked it, but don’t kiss me on the cheek 🙂