Cultural faux-pas, and question of the day:

[erinlefey]

[Public]

Last night I was at a party, and was introduced to a gentleman with a beard and cool hat. Typically when I'm introduced to someone, I hug them, and brother, when a economy-size woman hugs you, you know it. I could sense some unease though, and just offered to shake hands. The lovely woman who was introducing us explained that he was an Orthodox Jew, and Orthodox Jewish men cannot touch a woman with whom they are not married. Whups.

Did not know that, and it's nifty to learn, and glad I learned it before I violated a cultural more of his. My question to My Dear Readers is this: Are there any similar cultural differences you've run into socially? What are they and how do you deal with it?

Comments

[erinlefey.livejournal.com]

Fascinating! And this is Southern India? And in Northern India, assertion is the up and down motion?

Wow. What happens where the two territories meet? If you agree, your head explodes from trying to shake and nod at the same time.

[red-tanya.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure what they do in Northern India (I didn't go up there), but I know that the people I met in Southern India are Tamil, and that the people up north are something else (what exactly, I don't know).

I've heard my coworkers explain several times what the difference is between the side-to-side "yes" and the side-to-side "no" (their sign for no looks just like ours), and I get a lot of different explanations that don't really hold water. Some say it's how far to each side they go. Some say it's straight for no and wobbly for yes. Some say it's fast for no and slow for yes. Watching them do it, they really don't differ so much or in predictable ways that I can tell.

The way I use to tell which is which is that they're usually smiling for yes and not smiling for no.

Oh, and when they say "atcha atcha atcha" they're thinking about what you said, not necessarily agreeing with it.