There peoples kiss each other when they meet? Friends, family, ?

@icesmile (7160)
Romania
October 13, 2009 3:47pm CST
Or just shake hands, or just say hi? You know french people kiss each other 3 times, latins in general kiss a lot each others, friendly kisses of course...but are countries where peoples just say hi...or shake hands..as german people, or other occidental peoples... How peoples say or show that they are happy to see you there, in your country?
4 people like this
14 responses
@UK_Shree (3603)
13 Oct 09
Well I live in the UK and here it just depends. When I meet certain friends after a long time then yes we may give each other a quick peck on the cheeks but with other friends it might just be a quick hug. It really depends on who it is. With some people it is much more formal and I might just say 'hi' and nothing else, no hugs, kisses etc.
2 people like this
@UK_Shree (3603)
15 Oct 09
I think they are more relaxed and less formal.
@icesmile (7160)
• Romania
14 Oct 09
Hi there, of course that we never kiss each other if don t know very well, but i saw in France that peoples kiss each other very easy
@Porcospino (31367)
• Denmark
13 Oct 09
In Denmark a handshake is the common greeting. Family members or friends sometimes hug eachother when they meet, but strangers usually shake hands when they meet. At birthday parties or other parties, we shake hands with everyone and introduce ourselves to people we haven't met before. We don't kiss on the cheeks. When I was living in Italy one of my friends once told me how "cold" we were, because we don't kiss on the cheeks. Compared to many other people the Danes may seem cold, but we simply have other traditions and for some reason we have never used cheek kissing as a greeting.
2 people like this
@icesmile (7160)
• Romania
14 Oct 09
Hi, so i am right, latin are more "worm", i know, in my country peoples kiss each other very easy, even don t know each other very well...is like to shake hands..
@XiaoLin (289)
• Italy
14 Oct 09
Hi, I am Italian and its true we often use kisses on the cheeks as a greeting. It happens that you are introduced to a friend'd friend and you shake hands, and after a few haours, when you part, you greet them kissing them, even if you just met. When I meet with friends and relatives I kiss and hug them. Although I'm used to this I usually don't like to be touched by strangers, so I don't usually cling to people I don't know well. When I was in China I got used not to kiss with people when parting or meeting, but sometimes I would be confused, so it happened to me that I kissed my good friend's little sister when meeting her after a few years parting. We weren't so close friends, and I realized I startled her a bit, but being a foregner often explains a lot of misunderstandings, so she just smiled and didn't kissed me back. Now that I recall i, she was a little bit more embarassed facing my husband (at that time, still husband-to-be). ^-^
@tigeraunt (6326)
• Philippines
14 Oct 09
hello ice, different cultures show different ways when greeting someone. ours here are usually handshakes. but it has moved a little kinda open now, so we do hugs on both genders. it is an accepted gesture nowadays. but i wouldnt mind kissing someone who will arrive if he/she is a very very close friend and/or relative. thank u for this post. ann
1 person likes this
• Romania
13 Oct 09
i'm romanian and i gotta tell ya' here we kiss we shake hands we say hi we do everything u said! i don't agree with this but that's how people are here!
1 person likes this
@icesmile (7160)
• Romania
13 Oct 09
Hi, why you don t like to show feelings when you meet friends or family?
@hexeduser22 (7253)
• Philippines
14 Oct 09
I don't know about the whole country but in my family we do the family kiss. As per observation in the Philippines, when meeting someone new we give out a warm smile and do the handshake. I do the cheek to cheek kind of greeting to female friends who are really close to me.
• Philippines
15 Oct 09
I'm not avoiding it but there seems to be an invisible barrier or law governing the males to kiss cheek to cheek. Hmm...as to what I feel...I feel...I feel blessed to have beautiful female friends that are so comfortable with me
• United States
14 Oct 09
I live in The United States, down South in Alabama. When we greet each other, it is normally with a hand shake or a hug. When I was in high school, we used to have foreign exchanged students come to our school from all over the world a lot. I remember a group of students visiting from Brazil, and when they greeted us, they kissed us on the cheek. No one here was familiar with this way of greeting a person, therefore it startled some people. I don't see anything wrong with it at all, everywhere has different traditions.
• India
13 Oct 09
it depends on the people whom we meet , if we meet very close friends after a long time the We Hug each other, for Normal people we just say " Hi how Are You?" and Shake Hands.
@prinzcy (32326)
• Malaysia
14 Oct 09
It's not in our custom to kiss just about anybody. It's considered as rude if a man kissing a woman, even on cheeks in public, even around relatives. We normally just handshakes. Especially now, with the spread of H1N1, I don't even think of kissing cheeks with cheeks with female members.
@voldrox (7191)
• India
14 Oct 09
Hi icesmile According to our tradition we shake hands and peck each other on the cheeks both sides actually, it is not funny though, yeah but it is only if she is elder to me, i mean in our tradition the pecking thing is there only when the female is older, now if i go and peck at a younger girl it would all seen so strange!....lol have a nice day icesmile!
@Craicha (801)
14 Oct 09
just say hi /hello is common but some people n class do meet there friends and relatives in kiss, hugs, shake hands....
@redphile (2264)
• Philippines
13 Oct 09
we call it beso, like kiss in the cheek or cheek to cheek kissing. its like saying hi and hello, like when meeting up.
@dzimiie (32)
• Canada
14 Oct 09
I live in Canada and here there is so much immigrants that it depends of the person. Sometimes its just hi. There is so much people a that are around the world over here that sometimes I get confused and I really don't know what to do. I just try to follow the others in a slower paste and than I get it done. But when it comes to family its 3 kisses all the time. Its like a tradition here, my family is polish by the way.
@Catwife (54)
• China
14 Oct 09
Friendly kissing is normal,but to points at which the country! I am a Chinese,our country still do not have such a way! I think this is very good,can represent the love between us is very,very friendly!
@xzjchina (44)
• China
14 Oct 09
In my country, people usually shake hands and say hi to each other, no hugs or kisses. Normally, only husband and wife,girlfriend and boyfriend kiss each other.