Do I Have To Kiss Everybody???

[garryl]

No really?! I am a bit annoyed about this whole kissing on a cheek thing. As i walk in at the party, do i really have to kiss like 20 ppl, that half of them i don"t even know. And do you kiss your plumber too?

I would be happy to kill everyone at the party. Is it so hard ? That's one thing I love about Argentina, besos.

 

[garryl]

You don't have to, but you might be seen as rude or odd - although people might understand if you're a foreigner. At a party where you don't know people? I wouldn't, unless presented by a mutual friend. Usually I just greet whoever comes forward to greet me - I normally don't initiate the kissing.

The plumber, no. No service people/workers. Family, friends, coworkers, people you are presented to, etc.

Not even a cute plumber ?

 

[gpop]

It took me a while to get used to this; at least the amount of it. Being from Montreal, you have the kiss kiss on both cheeks... but that's for people you know fairly well, and usually not with men.

Funny thing happened to me when I met my wife's 92 y/o grandmother. She went right, i went left, we met in the middle with a kiss on the lips. <_< Awkward.
But, hey the old gal seemed to enjoy it; give me a big smile and we never spoke of it again. Probably the most action she'd seen in years. HEHEHE.

i swear there were no tongues involved -_- !

 

[Somewhereinba]

As a guy this is my general rule

Hug/Kiss: All women, guy friends and guy relatives similar to my age

Handshake: Older men and all guys who I am meeting for first time.

 

[Aleina Dee]

Argentines do have a sense of humor. If gou say you are an unenlightened,repressed gringo (gringo being foreigner from everywhere) they wjll understand. Offer the hand and mumble something in accented castellano.
I had the opposite experience where people step up realise that being foreign I might not know the culture and step back whereas I at the same time have stepped forward,so they step forward again whereas I thinking that I may have found someone from the not to be kissed group and have already stepped back.
I had similar issues in Mexico where you have to stop, handshake and enquire about the wellbejng of the extended family and the goldfish. When I left they had learned that a wave from a foreigner is just as friendly. Note I agree with the chitchat but sometimes there were days when it was not possible.

 

[Aleina Dee]

Lol,just realised . Do read that thing. About the repressed gringo with a . I hate typing on my dumb phone !

 

[glasgowjohn]

I have to admit that I have kissed my plumber !

 

[hannstew]

I have to laugh at myself sometimes because I hang around some Argentine bikers and they do the kiss thing amongst the majority of them and because Im the foreigner Im kind of drawn into giving the kiss.. It really seemed strange to see a group of rough characters kissing each other but I have gotten used to it now.

 

[GS_Dirtboy]

I don't mind the kissing - except at large parties or going into work in the morning. Let's all spend 25 minutes kissing each other and then go get a cup of coffee? You couldn't do both at the same time?

What I do find is gross is on my skate team when people go to kiss me and they are soaking wet with sweat.

 

[semigoodlookin]

It is what it is, but I am from a family where even getting a hello in the morning was a bonus. So when living with my in-laws, seeing them every morning and feeling I had to kiss them did not go well with my cold Britishness. So, I simply stopped doing it. More annoying than that is when you see the same person maybe three times a day and have to kiss them each time... didn't we already say hello? With parties, when I got here and was worried about what people thought of me I would do the kissing 30 people routine, squeezing past chairs, excuse me, interrupting people to say hello, approaching the ones that look like they would rather die than be there (that's usually me anyway). Now I just raise a hand in the general direction of the whole crowd an offer and hola.

One thing I struggle with is when you see a person you know but they are with someone else. I saw a friend talking to a guy I have never met before in my life the other day, I kissed my mate and said hello. When walking off my wife said that the other guy made moves on me for a kiss but I totally blanked him. I didn't know he wanted to kiss me, being strangers and all.