Few days ago I read an article about worldwide greetings traditions and I found some of them very interesting for being so different from my culture.
In my country (Spain) we usually give two kisses, or we shake hands whether you're in a very formal situation or it's the first time you meet that person.
While there are countries where people love to kiss (in the Netherlands they give 3 kisses on the cheeks and in France, depending on the region, you can get from 2 to 5 kisses on the cheeks!) on the other hand, there are countries where they don't even touch each other (it's well-known the japanese greeting, where people greet each other by bowing)
So, you can imagine how awkward a situation can be if you're travelling to a country where the greeting is very different from what you're used to, and you're not aware of it... You can 'become' that perverted tourist who kiss a lot, or that snob tourist who is very impolite :D
Here are some of the greetings I've found more different from what I'm used to:
Greece: People slap on the back instead of shaking hands. I wonder if everybody does that or just guys (Evangelina, maybe you can tell us about it)... In Spain guys do that with their closest male-friends, so for me this is like a very 'macho-men' greeting :D
Mozambique: People from the northern parts of the country clap their hands three times before saying hello. How cool is that!
Oman: In Oman you usually shake hands, but some men might kiss you on the nose. Ugh... too close for me :D
India: You are not supposed to hug your grandparents, but touch their feet! In India you are not supposed to kiss in public, at all, so you better don't kiss people when you meet them either.
Zambia: Here some people greet each other by squeezing a thumb.
New Zealand – Maor: Oh I find this one very cute: here some people press their noses together when they meet, while keeping their eyes closed... I call this a 'butterfly's kiss' :3
East Africa: Some East African tribes pretend to spit on each others’ feet. So just in case, don't wear new shoes :D
Tibet: In Tibet you’re seen as very polite if you stick your tongue out to someone. Like this> :^P
Benin: It might happen that the men snap their fingers while shaking your hands. Cool people! :D
Russia: In Russia the politicians like to kiss on the lips. It’s very common that the top leaders of the country kiss each other on the lips when they meet. So this is something 'funny' to see for other countries.
There are lot of different greetings, so the question now is:
HOW DO YOU GREET IN YOUR COUNTRY?
Comments
haha cool, Estanis ;)
AReality- haha yeah I guess that's the gangsta greeting :D
That would be another topic for a blog post: The different urban tribes and their greetings ;)
Keen Learner- That about touching feet it's 'weird' for me, but I understand that's something nice... It means your culture shows lot of respect for elder people :)
Alice E.- I didn't know that "mano po" greeting! It's a beautiful one! :)
Mishaikh- I think the islam greeting is very well known around the world. Thanks for your comment :)
Hola dara gino, thanks for your comment, I'm not 'señora' but 'señorita' haha
Well, of course there are not 'rude greetings'. But the 'funny' thing is that sometimes, what is 'polite' for a culture, is very inappropriate for a different one. Just like the one of some east african tribes about spiting on each others' feet. Imagine if someone spit on your feet and you're not aware that's a greeting... You'd get really mad at that person! :D
Elen- Thanks for your explanation! Sorry, I forgot you're from Greece as well, but of course all the greek people explanations are very welcome :D
So Spaniards and greeks share the same 'greeting way', besides character's similarities ;)
Evangelina, thanks for your sweet words. Thanks to you and Elen now I know that it's ok if I keep my 'spaniar greeting way' if I visit Greece one day, instead of slaping everybody on their backs. Now I won't be the crazy weird spaniard there :D
beethoven- Oh, right, the Eskimo kiss! That's so cute. It's just like the one of New Zealand – Maor. Now I wonder how is that they share so particular way of greeting... Maybe there is a mistery to solve :) Thanks for your comment!
Thanks for your words Nimzaf. I love to learn from other cultures too :)
Haha thanks for such a cute comment setareh :)
Yeah, I understand some greetings have lot to do with religious tradition/rules. That's interesting too.
saba- Yeah right! the 'pretending kissing greet'! hahaha I call it the 'snob' or 'posh' greet :D
Btw is a very thoughtful greet that about asking for each other's health :)
Thank you all for reading :)
The common greeting in my country is saying hello and asking about their health, but for people who haven't met for long, they kiss each other on the cheeks. Of course, women wearing lipstick don't like to kiss each other, they just pretend kissing each other :)))))
in my country we can only kiss our father, brother, uncle and grandfather due to being Muslim. We are not allowed to greet other men by kissing or shaking hands.
Well, i didn't want to say more because, Mary you ask Evangelina and i thought it was better to let her answer. Yes it is a "guy thing" mostly, but i do it to my mother also, lol. Well, i think it is not strange and i think it is not only Greek greeting, because i have seen it in American movies too.
I will describe it better. When a guy see a good friend in front of him, i mean he sees his back, or his hand side, he goes close to him, he slap softly his back with the one hand and say "hello friend" or "what's up friend" or whatever anyway. Or when two friends meet, hugging each other and the same time they slap softly their backs with both hands.
Instead of women who mostly hugging and kissing each other, but also men do that.
It depends on the person, how close friends you are, how much you appriciate and feel happy you see each other and also on the character. Some persons don't like kisses or hugs so much.
I wrote clap in my previous comment, i meant slap.
I hope i am clear :)
Mary, the typical Greek greeting is like yours, by shaking hands, saying hello and kissing each other to both cheeks.
Now, it depends on the person you meet and they way you feel to greet him. The way you describe, is a friendly way, we clap the back of a good friend and say "hey, what's up friend?" or something like this. Also another friendly way is to kiss on the cheeks and hug each other.
Evangelina will confirm it :)
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