Greetings, manners and hospitality
How people greet, host, give gifts and behave at the table.
Greetings, manners and hospitality are the small rules that tell people how to treat each other: how to say hello, how to eat, how to give a gift, how to refuse and how to leave. They differ in each culture, and a gesture that is warm in one place may be rude in another. EveryParampara gathers them by country, from the Thai wai and the Japanese bow to Ethiopian coffee, Iranian taarof and the Maori hongi, so that visitors and curious readers can understand what is going on.
Greeting and giving
Greetings may involve a bow, a handshake, a kiss, a hand on the heart or the joining of palms. Gifts have their own rules: both hands in East Asia, the right hand in much of Africa and the Middle East, no white flowers in China, no alcohol in a Muslim home. Wrapping, timing and the way a gift is received all matter. When in doubt, a small gift of food or sweets, given with a smile, is welcome almost anywhere.
At the table and at the door
Shoes off at the door, a seat of honour for the guest, the eldest served first, a refused offer pressed again: the rules of the table and the threshold are widely shared in spirit if not in detail. A good guest watches, thanks the host and does not rush. A good host feeds the guest, lets the guest leave with food, and walks them to the gate. These small customs make the visit a pleasure for both.
Written by the EveryParampara desk with AI assistance. Background on Greetings, manners and hospitality (kind of tradition). Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.
🇯🇵 Kyoto, JapanKaiseki懐石
A multi-course Japanese dining tradition shaped by tea ceremonies and the seasonsTable custom · Dinner
🇷🇺 Russia and 1 moreRussian tea culture
The everyday cup of Russia, brewed strong and diluted to taste, with jam and sweetsTable custom · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies
🇯🇵 Kyoto, JapanJapanese tea ceremony茶道 (Sadō / Chadō), 茶の湯 (Chanoyu)
The formal serving of powdered matcha, shaped by Zen, Shinto and wabiTable custom · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies
🇺🇸 United States and 3 moreWedding reception
The party after a wedding, where the couple greet guests over food, cake and dancingFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇬🇪 Tbilisi, GeorgiaSupraსუფრა
A Georgian feast led by a toastmaster, where toasts, wine and food carry the mealTable custom · Feasts and festival meals
🇷🇺 Russia and 1 moreZakuskiзакуски
A laid-out table of cold small dishes that opens a Russian festive mealTable custom · Tea-time and snacking customs
🇦🇷 Argentina and 4 moreAsado
A slow fire, a grill and a shared table: how people gather to cook and eat meatTable custom · Feasts and festival meals
🇰🇬 Kyrgyzstan and 4 moreBeshbarmakбешбармак
Boiled meat and noodles, eaten by hand from one platter, with a set cut for each guestTable custom · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇳 IndiaSadyaസദ്യ
A vegetarian feast from Kerala, served on a banana leaf at Onam, Vishu and weddingsTable custom · Lunch
🇪🇬 Egypt and 5 moreLibation
The ceremonial gift of drink given to deities, ancestors, and the earthSpiritual · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies
🇩🇿 AlgeriaWezeeaوزيعة
A communal meat-sharing custom fostering rural solidarity across AlgeriaSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇧🇩 Bangladesh and 1 moreShagoranaসাগরানা
A ceremonial wedding feast platter presented to the groom in BangladeshTable custom · Feasts and festival meals
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Sadya: Augustus Binu / facebook, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Kaiseki: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Russian tea culture: Boris Kustodiev, Public domain, source
- Japanese tea ceremony: Photograph taken by Stephane D'Alu ( en:User:Sdalu ) in April 2004, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Wedding reception: Konstantin Makovsky, Public domain, source
- Supra: Public domain Public domain false false This work is in the public dom, Public domain, source
- Zakuski: Timothy Post, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Asado: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Beshbarmak: NataAllice, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Libation: Arkady Zarubin ( Аркадий Зарубин ), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Shagorana: Caped CrusaderK, CC0, source