(Non-)kissing in Bulgaria

I spent three months in Sofia (Bulgaria) from September to December 2010.
I won't write anything about my work experience at the local Italian embassy here; I'll just stick to the main greeting-related topic.
Before going to Sofia, I thought Bulgarians would be a warm people, like Slavic people are known to be. Well... I was partially wrong!
When I arrived, I met a young woman I had got in touch with on CouchSurfing, who had offered to share her flat with me (I paid a low rental fare of about 100 euros per month, but I had to move out one month later, because her flat was so uncomfortable and we didn't get on very well). When we met, she gave me her hand, I took it and kissed her on both cheeks. It was ok: she didn't look astonished nor did she react in any particular way, but I guess she wasn't expecting it.
Some days later, I met other people from CouchSurfing at a meeting organized to visit some art museums and galleries. The organizer was a brilliant and pretty girl. When we met, she shook my hand with great energy, but that was all. When we said good-bye, after a pleasant time, she hugged me and I gave her kind-of a kiss on the cheek.
When I met her again, one month later, she still greeted me with a handshake as if that were our first meeting... I was a bit puzzled!
On another day, I met another young woman I had got to know on Facebook, with her husband and their baby. Again, we said hello and good-bye with quite a cold handshake.
I admit I didn't meet many other Bulgarians, but I did see many of them meeting up here and there. I noticed that the most common greetings among friend is, surprisingly, the handshake! Some of them hug, many fewer kiss. Like everywhere in Europe, cheek-kissing is a bit more common among younger people, but still not that common!
I hope there will be more cheek-kisses next time I go to Bulgaria (although I don't know when it's going to be, since my first experience there was not great - mostly due to my work at the Embassy and to the several street dogs that scared me)!

Kissing in Lithuania: not the most common thing!

So, I'm back with my remarks about cheek-kissing all around Europe.
I was in Lithuania from 8 to 22 June. I visited the "biggest" (or, better, "the least small") cities and was hosted for free by fellow members of the CouchSurfing community. It was a great experience and, although this has nothing to do with my blog, I'd like to advise everyone who like travelling and meeting people from other cultures to join CouchSurfing.
As far as our topic is concerned, well... Lithuania isn't France! There is quite little to say about cheek-kissing in this small country.
As a general rule, people don't kiss on the cheek. Greetings consist either in a handshake or just in verbal greetings (like "Labas" or "sveiki" - hello - or "Laba diena" - good day).
When I met my first host - a 24-year-old girl - we shook hands and, later, I shook hands with her mom and her best friend (a girl). When I departed from them, I just said good-bye to the mom, while the girl hugged me and planted a kiss on my cheek (not the usual good-bye kiss, but more of an affectionate kiss).
Afterwards, I met a couple of fiances I had previously hosted in Italy. No kisses here, just hugs/handshakes upon meeting and departing.
Meeting and departing from my third host - a girl - was awkwardly "cold". Just a handshake both times...
Then I was hosted by a family with a baby. When I met them, I shook hands with the adults and said hello to the child. Upon leaving, I shook the child's hand and he hugged me; the husband shook my hand and the wife did the same... but she added a quick peck in the end. I wanted to give her a kiss back, but by the time I had turned my head, she had disappeared! :(
My last host family was the same from where I started. When I arrived, I was greeted only verbally and, when I left to go to the airport and fly back home, I shook the mom's hand and hugged and kissed the girl.
So, Lithuania is a Nordic country from the point of view of greetings. Only-verbal greeting comes first. Then, handshake. Hugs are the normal way to greet friends you haven't met or won't meet for a while. Kisses are not the norm but are slowly getting popular.
I sometimes saw friends exchange one or, more rarely, two kisses on the cheeks and, on one occasion, I even saw a girl kiss her friends (of both genders) on the lips to say hello. I had read about this on a guidebook, but it still looked awkward to me!
I hope you have enjoyed this post. More will hopefully follow!
Viso gero (Lithuanian for "good bye", always pronounced like "segara"!),
Michele

Long time no post

Hello!

Almost five years have gone by since I last updated this blog! Wow... quite a long time!
I have never been a good blogger because I am never constant enough in writing, although I like writing!

Anyway, I would like to resume posting on this blog because I keep receiving positive feed-back about it (alongside with a lot of spam messages). It's weird to realize how many people are interested about an apparently shallow topic like cheek-kissing. So, I will try to update this blog with my recent kissing-related discoveries.

Meanwhile, you may want to read this interesting forum thread: http://thatwifeblog.com/2010/11/greetings-in-poland/

Greetings,
Michele (pronounced like: Mee-kay-lay)