Today my teacher visits Cambodia. I always hug her when we meet because it's her culture but I also like to hug her too because it feels like hugging my mother. We went to many places and lunch together. When we said good bye to each other, she kissed my friend's hand and mine.
I felt a shocked, and I wonder if it's western culture to kiss someone's hand?

General Mackevili wrote:

prahkeitouj wrote:...I always hug her when we meet because it's her culture...

It is also my culture to hug, so why didn't I get a hug too? I feel so left out.

Hahaha... where are you from? Not Asia? Maybe not know your culture or feel awkward to hug the handsome guy. :p

prahkeitouj wrote:
I felt a shocked, and I wonder if it's western culture to kiss someone's hand?

Not usually, unless the person is of a much higher standing than you. I'd take it as a compliment.

for a man to another man, a formal greeting would be a shake of the right hands, if informal you would come in close and use the free left hand to reach around and give them a pat on the back, for a man to a woman, a formal greeting would be a shake of the right hand, informally would probably be a hug and depending on how well you know them a kiss on the cheek,

in old times in the western world, if a man was to kiss another mans hand (or their ring) it would be a sign of respect, submission and loyalty, a more modern polite way to shake someones hand in both formal and informal situations, as a sign of more respect than a standard handshake, you would shake with your right hand, and use your free left hand and to place it on top of their hand that you are shaking

a gentleman would kiss the hand of a lady (who often presents her hand to be kissed) as a sign of respect and politeness, in modern times kissing the hand of a girl would most likely be seen as a sign of endearment or flirtatious behavior,

John Bingham wrote:

prahkeitouj wrote:
I felt a shocked, and I wonder if it's western culture to kiss someone's hand?

Not usually, unless the person is of a much higher standing than you. I'd take it as a compliment.

Yes, she is higher than me.

Jamie_Lambo wrote:for a man to another man, a formal greeting would be a shake of the right hands, if informal you would come in close and use the free left hand to reach around and give them a pat on the back, for a man to a woman, a formal greeting would be a shake of the right hand, informally would probably be a hug and depending on how well you know them a kiss on the cheek,

in old times in the western world, if a man was to kiss another mans hand (or their ring) it would be a sign of respect, submission and loyalty, a more modern polite way to shake someones hand in both formal and informal situations, as a sign of more respect than a standard handshake, you would shake with your right hand, and use your free left hand and to place it on top of their hand that you are shaking

a gentleman would kiss the hand of a lady (who often presents her hand to be kissed) as a sign of respect and politeness, in modern times kissing the hand of a girl would most likely be seen as a sign of endearment or flirtatious behavior,

Thank you for explanation, but I didn't see women kiss women's hands. Is it strange?

In NZ we greet each other with a Hongi, touching our noses and foreheads together, right hands grasped, left hand placed on the shoulder (unless carrying a weapon, weapon should remain in the left hand as it is considered non-hostile - in this case the right hand usually grasps the others shoulder). Hats should always be removed from your head before greeting in this fashion.

Hongi - the sacred embrace wherein two sides become one through the exchange of 'ha', the breath of life.



Or, a more informal greeting involves raising ones eyebrows and slightly nodding the head upwards...sometimes accompanied by a verbal greeting of one, or a combination, of the following words..."bro!", "cuz!", "(al)right?", "supp!?", "churrr!"

In fact, entire conversations can be had in the above fashion.

Username Taken wrote:^^ Do blokes do this to blokes too?

Yes. In this day and age though it is not a normal day-to-day greeting, used more in formal circumstances, at the Marae, when greeting elders/family members close friends, etc.

Some people find it very awkward, but for those of us who have grown up with it is just normal. I was at a pub in Australia with my Aussie girlfriend and mates once when a bunch of my close friends from my time in the NZ Army whom I hadn't seen in a long time walked in, we greeted each other with hongi's, my gf and the other Aussies we were with were all very confused and shocked...they thought we were going to kiss each other! My Khmer partner was really shocked the first time she saw myself and a Kiwi mate greet each other with a hongi down in Kampot, took a little bit of explaining, haha.