do you give a smile or handshake, or a pat, or hug, or ……when you greet?

I shake my head and raise my eyebrows to a stranger, greet my brothers and sisteres with a firm hand shake but people rather intimate to me I give a lose hug, a pat on the back and a little peck on the neck!

it depends on the person that i meet. if it is my parents/aunts/uncles/grandparents/godparents then i would kiss their hand. if a close friend, a hug and a kiss on the cheek. if an acquaintance, a smile or a pat.

I always greet my friends with a smile and a handshake saying Salam! Its the Muslim way of greeting each other.

If it's a stranger, I'd just smile and handshake. And there's custom here if we've met our friends wé give them three times kisses on the check (mostly woman to woman, man to woman but hardly man to man...hehehe). For older people or friends that I hardly see, I'll give a big hug and pad them on their back.

Nameste! This is an indian too! we often touch legs (charan paduka) when the elders are there or else just greet with my palms open to my age ones. I normally hug my friends whom i meet after a long time. i feel a gentle kiss is too much here in india but its fine in abroad!!!

here in Philippines, prudence is quite a factor. whenever we greet a stranger, we just say hello in a quiet manner and then shake hands (in formal occasions or even semi-formal). if it is a friendly introduction between strangers, we usually add a wave or a smile. if it is a friend we usually hug or kiss each other's cheeks while the boys shake hands or hug each other. when greeting an authority or a senior, we usually include a little nod

i am also from india but i just shake my hand and if he is too close a person to me, i hug him. thats it.

I usually greet my friends with a hug and a kiss on the cheek. If its someone Im meeting for the first time/business associate then I shake hands with them. Im from India too but I seldom do the namaste.

If I met a close friend of mine, for men-I would hug him and even shake his hands tigthly. for women who are very so dear to me - I would hug/or give him a dear friend respect kiss. In the Philippines, some people are quite conservative including myself so It also depends of how closeness my friend is to me. The bottom line, I do greet and filled with joy to meet a friend of mine that I haven't seen him/her for few years!

It just depends on who it is.If it is a family member or a close friend or if this person means a lot to me,its a smile and a big hug.Sometimes even a kiss...If it is a stranger i will smile and shake hands ....It is usually my custom to smile first and hug that person,or pat them on the arm or shoulder,Im a touchy ,feely person.

It depends on who you meet as you say in your discussion. When I meet a stranger for the first time who I'm introduced to, the norm here in the UK is to shake their hand. I do this with men or with women. If it's someone I know well enough to share conversation with but not someone I consider as a friend I just say "Hello, how are you?" and smile. If it's someone I consider as a friend, they usually get a big bear hug and a kiss on the cheek, sometimes a kiss on left and right cheeks. I have some European friends who insist on kissing on the kiss 3 or 4 times, it's their tradition - I don't mind! With family friends or relatives somewhat older than me, if they're female they get a hug generally, if they're male they'll get a "Hello, how are you?" as it's not really very Indian to hug your uncles if you're a woman. In India though I have a few uncles that I am very close to and they get a hug and kiss from me whether they like it or not. I think they like it because they always hug back. They are well aware that having been brought up in the UK hugging people is more a sign of love and affection for me that doing "Namaste" or "Namaskar" or touching their feet to get their blessings. Personally for me, I do not like touching people's feet as a sign of respect, it means nothing to me except for causing me backache and no one is worth aggravating my back for. I hope people don't get upset in India but my health is more important that following a tradition which doesn't mean anything to me... :)

Well, it actually depends on how well I know the prson and what age group the person belongs to. In case the person is only an acquainte, and not a very good friend then depending on the persons age I would greet. If elder to me then I might say Namaste or touch the persons feet as it is a custom in India to get blessings, if my own age group or younger to me I would say Hi/hello. But if the person is a close friend or a relative then if he/she is elder to me I would definitely touch their feet and get blessings. If my friend then we might shake hands, pass a smile or hug each other, depending on how close I am to my friend. For younger ones, i might just ask how are you or if its a kid then i might move my hand through the kid's hair , as a gesture of care.

I give a hug and smile if the person is a close friend, handshake and smile if the person is not so close and also to people i meet the first time. Smile is a must.

I greet my close friends with a gentle kiss or a warm hug. It means"You are my close friend"or"I miss you so much.It's very glad to see you again." But for those traditional Chinses people, they can accept these actions between greetings of friends. I don't greet people with a handshake.I think this action is out of date.But in some formal potision, shaking hands is the most proper way to greeting. In my personal opinion, I don't like greet people with a pat.This action is too casual,too rude.I don't like it.But most of my friends often greet people with a pat.

Hand shake mostly !

If it is an old friend we would hug. If it is somone I am being introduced to then we would politly shake hands. If it is someone I see in passing that I do not know but we make eye contact a friendly smile and hello is usually what I do.

I'm glad that you got to see your friend after 5 years, that is a long time. When I see a friend I haven't seen in a long time. I am a little shy at first. When I see close friends or family I give them a big hug. If I don't know them very well, I just say Hi! with a smile.

for first time acquaintances i usually nod to the person that is introduced to me or smile at them. but if its a formal introduction i give a handshake to that person. friends are often hi five and smile, if its best friend its a huge hug and sometimes a kiss on cheeks "beso".

i'm a friendly person but the way i greet my friends is different,, i use to kissed them in cheeks sometimes a simple smile when i'm not in mood.. but to the stranger I only smile to them as a sign of my respect..

some of my friends, i greet them with a BIG HELLO and smile. but some of my friends,i greet them with 'beso' (like a kiss) and hug them.