FREE HUGS !

The day I arrived in the United States for the first time, my host family was waiting for me at the airport to welcome me. Imagine my joy to be finally there after a fifteen hour trip during which I spent a lot of time waiting in the different airports, sleeping in uncomfortable positions on the plane and worrying about what that experience had in store for me. However, although I was relieved to see the board reading my name and held by a couple with heart-warming smiles, I realised I had no idea how to greet them. Normally, in France, I would have given them “la bise”, a kiss on each cheek. But it seemed inappropriate to me as this is a French custom; and shaking their hands would have been too cold for the occasion. So I shyly walked to them, ready to improvise when my host mom hugged me. I had then received the first of a countless series of hugs.

There is no real translation for the word “hug” in French. We can either use the word “étreinte” (“embrace”) but it seems too neutral to me, or the word “câlin” (“cuddle”), which definitely sounds too intimate. That lexical difference is very representative of the culture of the hug that does not exist in France but that is very common in North America and Australia. Because if “la bise” is considered to be very informal, almost intimate in America, in France, we think that a hug is just as much intimate and it may be because a hug is about getting into someone else’s personal sphere.

So it is not surprising that the Free Hug movement was born in Australia and was meant to be “random acts of kindness, selfless acts performed just to make other feel better”. Because that is what a hug is. It is sincere and friendly and can be very useful when the words can’t. There are hugs that say “hey ! it’s good to see you !”, those that are meant to cheer you up like “it’s gonna be okay”, those that mean “goodbye” or those coming after an apology. It all depends on its duration and its pressure. It can be quick with a pat on the back when it is between two friends, or a big warm hug you make last when it’s to a friend you have not seen in ages. But no need to be best friends to give each other a hug since a hug is always spontaneous and can give so much comfort. 

Peace, Absolute Berenice_