Greetings
In Croatia, there are a few different methods to greet someone. It is rather tricky and depends on the other person's proximity to you as well as your gender. Whether they are family members or complete strangers, guys virtually universally shake hands when they greet one another (although they occasionally give each other a double cheek kiss and a hug if they are very close friends). If a man and woman are close friends, they will simultaneously kiss each other on the cheeks and shake hands.
They will shake hands when they first meet if they are just acquaintances. Women kiss the cheeks of their female friends and occasionally give them hugs, but they shake hands with strangers. Typically, people will only kiss children on the head. With youngsters, there's no need for handshakes or double cheek kisses, which makes things easier.
- You do the same exchange when you greet someone, as you do when you say goodbye.
- With handshakes, it’s important to look the other person in the eye.
- Men will always shake a woman’s hand first when in a group.
- With the double cheek kiss, there’s no hard rule on what cheek to kiss first. Just let the other person start and follow their lead, or you could end up with a big ol’ kiss on the lips if you both lean to the same side at the same time.
- With kisses, the numbers are important. Two is the magic number (one kiss per cheek). If you greet someone with a kiss on only one cheek and pull back, the other person will have already leaned in to your other cheek and it will be weird.
- Don’t try to kiss three times, either. That’s the custom in nearby Serbia and then you’ll will be the awkward one who leaned in when they pulled back.
- Sometimes, one person will go in for the kiss, and the other will go for the handshake, and it can be embarrassing. It happened to me plenty of times after moving here, while I was still learning to read the situation and understand these cultural greetings.
