Greetings...

When I was about 16 years old I was introduced to an American woman by a friend. She was a family friend and was staying with them for a few days. She held out her hand for me to shake. This was probably the first time I had ever been offered a hand to shake from a stranger and me, being cool and trendy and hopelessly enamoured by anything American, decided to clasp her hand in the same way I had seen Jon and Ponch do on C.H.I.P.S. This was a cause of great embarrassment to both of us as we almost ended up thumb wrestling. I thought all Americans shook hands like that but she just wasn't expecting it. Ever since that fateful day I always get a feeling of 'anything can happen here' when I greet a person, whether its a stranger or someone I know. I need the other person to take the initiative otherwise it could all end up in one big mess!
Of course it could all be down to my genes, a traditional English reserve, but I do think that me trying to be cool played a big part in my aversion to greeting people. One of my biggest fears is being introduced to someone from South Central LA or Brixton and have to go through a series of complicated hand maneuvers ending in a knuckle to knuckle punch! A Saudi Arabian bloke I knew in England would insist on greeting you with his knuckles instead of his hand and I would inevitably end up shaking his fist...
Over the past few years I have met a lot of people and this has acted as a kind of therapy for me. The very first person I met here introduced me to the traditional Belgian greeting of 3 kisses to the cheek, with me, all the while this was happening, fretting about whether I had to kiss her husband as well! I began to approach each new introduction by taking control of the situation and thrusting my hand out and shaking, peck on the cheek for the ladies and the occasional pat on the back for the men. It was all going well, very well.
Then..
Last year we went to visit family in Greece and I was suddenly confronted by an entirely new and complicated form of greeting...Man Hug!
http://www.videojug.com/film/how-to-give-a-great-man-to-man-hug