Cheek kissing is a form of social convention, mainly in European countries. It is a gesture to perform a greeting,to congratulate, to show respect or friendship and it can be considered more or less appropriate depending on local cultures. Threfore, learning the style and expression of kissing in different countries may be useful when dealing with various cultures.
Not only is it worthwhile to know where you might have to turn a cheek ( mailnly on the right, but in Italy you start on the left ) but it’s helpful to know just how many kisses to expect. In France alone, the count varies dramatically by region: Parisians consider two kisses the norm like in the majority of European Countries, while three is standard in Provence like in Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Egypt and Russia. Apart from numbers and sides, some other countries prefer the no-kissing style: in China or India if you were to kiss someone in public you would certainly cause a lot of distress.
Gender dynamics are also an important consideration. In Europe and Latin America, kiss greetings between two women, and between a man and a woman, are widely accepted. A kiss between two men, though more rare, does occur in places like Argentina, France and Southern Italy. In the Arab world you’ll find that men kissing men as a greeting is very normal. Try that in the UK or US...and you might create an awkward moment.
As it is pretty complicated, the suggestion would be to follow along, not to hold back but to do exactly what the other person is doing, returning the same greeting or accepting the greeting graciously.
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