Greetings

Namaste

Namaste or "Namaskar" is gesture commonly used as a courtesy greeting in India. Namaste is a formal and also casual greeting. Namaste is indicated by the folded palms placed before the chest and slight bowing down of the head then uttering the word Namaste. It literally translates to "I salute the god within you and may our minds meet". Namaste has also spiritual meaning as it is the same gesture used while praying god.

This traditional greeting is no longer used in formal business situation in urban cities. Hand shake is a commonly used between men and men. But women generally do not shake hand and avoid contact. Men should greet women with slight nod or shake hand only if women extend hand.

Bindya

Ahoj, Čau & Dobrý den

In Czech Republic we don´t have got any special greeting rituals. We usually don´t kiss each other on the cheeks. Young people sometimes start to do it and maybe in few years it will be a part of our culture but not now

When we are greeting each other in polite way, for example a person who I don´t know very well or I have got a really polite relationship with her I say: "Dobrý den". The exact translation of this is Good day. It changing for other daytimes – "Dobrý večer" is Good evening and "Dobré ráno" is Good morning.

When we are greeting each other in casual way, between the friends or something we are using expressions which are similar as hello – "ahoj", "čau", or "nazdar".

Alena

Kisses in cheeks in Spain

Spaniards use formal and informal greetings. Among people that know each other, we say "Buenos días" (Good morning), "Buenas tardes" (Good afternoon) and "Buenas noches" (Good night). More casual greetings are "Hola" (Hello), "Adiós" (Bye) and "Hasta luego" (Goodbye).

In formal contexts (first meeting, business, a wedding, people long time no see, etc), men handshake other men, and women kiss two times in cheeks everybody (one left, one right). Sometimes the kiss is not complete, and people only touch cheek with cheek.

Men also can give kisses in cheeks to other men, but it is rare, more common in the South of Spain, and only in specific contexts like very good friends.

Emilio

From Hand Waves to Bows

South Korea has an extremely age–centric society. When people meet, the first thing they do is confess their ages and determine who should be respected, that is, who are entitled to receive hand waves or bows. The rule of thumb here is: Bow to older people, and wave to those who are the same age as you. Unless the two of you are extremely close, e.g. best friends forever or family, you must avoid hand waves with older people. You can go either way with younger people, though hand waves are considered more appropriate.

On special occasions like Chuseok (kind of a Korean Thanksgiving Day) or Seolal(lunar New Year’s Day), it is customary for younger generations to offer Jeol(bowing down on both your knees, with your hands on the floor) to older relatives, though it is gradually becoming outdated nowadays.     

Ms. L