Greetings in Kyrgyzstan
Friends greet one another differently in the north and the south claims everyculture.com. Men and women in the south shake hands to meet friends of the same gender, frequently with the left hand placed over the heart. Usually, the opposite gender is disregarded. A greeting is a sequence of questions that are spoken over the other person's greetings without pausing between them. When shaking hands, older women and female relatives frequently kiss each other on the cheek. When bidding each other goodbye, women occasionally kiss each other on the lips. Between men, the Arabic salutation assalom aleikum is widely used. In the north, greetings are more condensed and only men shake hands. Only a younger man can address an elderly person with assalam aleikum as a sign of profound respect. Both in the north and the south, farewells are brief.
People often say hello and goodbye to one another once every day. When addressing strangers or those you don't know well, use formal greetings such "Zdravstvuite" or "Dobryi den/vecher" for Hello and "Do svyidania" for good bye. When addressing friends, use "Privet" and "Poka" (Bye). "Salamatsyzby" (literally, "Are you healthy?") is the Kyrgyz term for hello. "Jakshy kalynyz" (literally, "Stay well") is the Kyrgyz word for goodbye, whereas "Jakshy barynyz" (literally, "Have a pleasant journey") is used if you're staying. Although it may seem difficult at first, you will eventually learn all of these things, as well as many more.
In Kyrgyzstan, shaking hands is a prevalent social habit; predominantly men engage in it. Men shake hands to welcome, congratulate, and say goodbye to one another (friends, acquaintances, and strangers at a meeting or a conference). Hugging and kissing amongst close friends is accepted as usual. In general, men avoid shaking hands with women. Women are expected to shake a man's hand if he offers it to them first. A man will typically shake a woman's hand first if she offers it to him, but this is not always the case. So, if you're a woman, just wait for a man to start the conversation. Here, the woman is intended to play a passive role in the hand-shaking process. It takes Western women some time to adjust to this, and it is frequently a highly sensitive subject. It is not a cultural quirk that one should get used to; rather, it is a hard-to-change habit when a guy approaches a group of men and women, shakes hands with the males, and ignores the ladies. That is one of the lists of Kyrgyzstan culture, customs, and etiquette. Regarding kissing hands (men occasionally do this to meet ladies), this custom is largely extinct today. It is still done by a few people, but it is not very common. This is how older men may occasionally greet young women.
