Kissing
Do I have your attention?
Time for a quick cross cultural behaviour lesson:
In Peru you greet people with 1 kiss on the right cheek. More like your cheeks touch and you kiss the air beside the person’s ear.
*Important note* When you enter or leave a room, you have to make sure to go up to everyone you know and greet them with a kiss.
Of course this means that leaving a room takes quite some time, because of all the kisses you have to dispense and because as you go around, you end up chatting.
Yesterday I experienced the other side of the same phenomenon: I was in a team meeting and each time someone new came in to join the meeting (late, as happens often) the meeting stopped for the new arrival to do their rounds. (I guess I should be thankful I’m not in the land of 3 kisses.)
My well-practiced, confident handshake is falling into disuse… I wonder if my hands will lose some of their muscle tone and I’ll have to train for re-entry into Canada.
have you gone through the “i really don’t feel like kissing the 25 people i didn’t even talk to this evening” phase yet? i have, it gets better
This is the same in Chile, and sometimes I’d show up to pick up a friend from their place and spend 20 minutes kissing strangers and 2 seconds for the actual purpose of my visit. The efficient German side of me was always doing an eye-roll, but I really missed it when I came back to cold cold Canada!
I do find the endless kissing still feels like a chore, especially when it comes to a roomful of people that you barely know. I have to say, though, that hugs still feel ‘warmer’ to me.