皆さんもご存知のように、日本では挨拶する時、頭をすこし前方へ倒してお辞儀をします。上司や年上の方に挨拶する場合は、尊敬の意を表するために普段よりすこし深めに礼をします。これが、私の日本又はドイツにいる日本人へ対する挨拶の仕方です。

In Japan, as you know, it’s normal to bow one’s head slightly when you are greeting someone. When bowing to someone of higher social status, you bow a bit lower than usual to show respect.

The final straw came last week at another international party. At the end of the evening, as at the beginning we all had to kiss each other and then the inevitable and embarrassing nose graze happened…

…for the past few weeks it has not been the articles or the du/sie question that has been baffling me. It has been something that until now I thought was relatively simple to comprehend – the greetings…