A hug and a kiss on the cheek

by bintangkecil on Monday, August 25th, 2008 | Humour, Life

Yesterday, my two friends and I went to church. It’s a Catholic church in Monterey Park. When we were having the rite of peace, one of my friends (let’s just call her “C”) giggled. So, I looked at “C” and asked her what was funny .. and then she’s like “No no no .. I’ll tell you later!” So then, we continued giving sign of peace to everybody else.

After the mass has ended, we went to Noodle Cafe on Garvey, Monterey Park to have lunch with our two other friends. Then, “C” started telling us the reason why she was giggling earlier.

THIS IS PROBABLY NOT THE EXACT WORDS SHE SAID BUT I’LL TRY MY BEST ..

“C”: I once went to St Stephen’s church alone. I was sitting near the end of the bench seat. In the rite of peace, I saw this nun hug the person who was sitting couple of rows in front of me and then give him a kiss on the cheek. Then, she goes to the person right next to that guy and gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. She then moves to the next row in front of me and do the same thing to those people.

Normally, people would just shake hands in the rite of peace saying “Peace be with you” .. but cheek kissing was the normal way that men in the ancient western Mediterranean would greet one another. So, this nun is probably doing the “normal way” of greeting people. So then, she’s almost done with the row in front of me and I saw her walking towards my direction. She gave me a pat on the back so I thought, ok, I’ll do the same thing, so I hugged her and gave her a kiss on her cheek. But then, she suddenly said “Uhm, excuse me, I’d like to get over there!” while pointing to the other side of the bench.

“C” felt really embarassed … and said .. “I kissed the nun on the cheek …”

All of us burst into laughters.

The nun was actually just trying to get pass “C” to the other side of the bench since “C” was sitting near the end of the bench seat.

“C” added, “That’s why I always laughed when I saw the nun at the mass. It reminds me of that incident.”

Have you guys had any similar experience like this?

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Tags: Catholic tradition, Hug, kiss on the cheek, peace be with you, rite of peace

4 Responses to “A hug and a kiss on the cheek”

1
rachel_82 Says:
August 25th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
I had a piano lesson that day (this was many years back) and it was time for my mother to pick me up from Relasi; a music school in Jakarta.

I saw a Toyota Kijang (some kind of pick-up or minibus that is very common in Indonesia) that looks like our family car. So then, as the Kijang drove by the lobby area. I saw a bunch of people inside the car. I thought to myself, that’s probably my aunt and her children. We might be getting dinner after this or something and that’s why she’s late because she picked up my aunt and her children first before coming over here.

So, I quickly opened the car door and without looking at the passengers, I sat down.

Few seconds after, I realized that the people in the car were staring at me and all were silent ..
I gazed up, Oops .. they are not my family.
I got embarrassed and got out of the car as quickly as I can and ran upstairs and stayed in the restroom for ~5 minutes.

I remember that day very clear until now. It was so embarrassing but at least I can laugh at it now (LOL)
2
nate Says:
August 25th, 2008 at 4:32 pm
Rachel,

I had a similar situation happened when I was around 14 years old. We had an out-town trip for junior high farewell to Bali. There were several buses that we ride into. One time, we stopped by the gas station so students could go to the restroom at the gas station. The buses were similar so right after I got out the restroom, I ran into one bus and just sat there. While the bus was already moving, then I realized they’re not my bus-group. So, I stayed there a while, reasoning that I need a fresh friends after a long drive. =p
3
iticefruit Says:
August 26th, 2008 at 2:15 pm
Almost similar to “C”’s story,

I was at the church with my family. When it’s time to giving peace signs, I always hug and kiss my family on the cheek. One of my friend, a girl, was sitting next to my family. Being absent minded at the time, I just hugged and kissed her on the cheek. When I realized it on my way back to my seat, I was going to go back and apologize since most Asians are not custom to hugging, let alone kissing the cheek. But I figured, if she had a problem, she could have just slapped me right there. She didn’t
4
bintangkecil Says:
August 27th, 2008 at 7:01 pm
rachel, luckily they did not kidnap you ..

nate, it’s just another group right? so you did not end up in Madura island or something afterwards … hehehe …

iticefruit, kissing on the cheek is more like a family thing. So, she may think that she’s just treated the same like your other family member.