Alia

@rochellaine

If you’d rather not though, that’s fine. 🙂 I just thought I’d ask since you seem knowledgeale on the process.

@Rochellaine

Hand shaking just isn’t a thing with youths here, which is a shame because I like shaking hands (it makes me feel powerful since I can make grown butchers wince. I just have to remember not to crush the old ladies). But you can always go for the high five if they initiate it. 😛

I was stalking Jen’s self publishing thread and saw…[Read more]

@ariel-ashira Thank you! 😀  I was so sure, but then, trying as one American to state a fact about our huge country was kind of intimidating and I wanted to make certain. 😛  @seekjustice needs to come to America to see just how normal and not-awkward the handshake hug really is. 😉

@seekjustice Oh my goodness!  The awkward head nodding thing with male friends! 😛  Sometimes the guy is confident and just goes out to shake your hand, but if he’s not sure if you want to and you’re too shy to initiate the handshake, it’s kind of awkward.  Especially if you just hugged his sister or something… 😉

Um…hmm…of course! 😀  Wha…[Read more]

@rochellaine

Well those other greetings are pretty standard here, particularly the fake kissing when it comes to older people. I often shake older peoples hands and hug my female friends and do some kind of awkward head nodding thing with male friends.

Um…hmm…I was wondering if I would be able to ask a favour of you?

@jenwriter17 @seekjustice @rochellaine Thank you so much!

@rochellaine @seekjustice I confirm the handshake hug thing.  At least, I know it happens in Alaska, Kansas, and Missouri, and maybe New Mexico.  I think that there has to be a level of friendship already established for them to do it, since its more friendly and less formal than a handshake.

@seekjustice It’s about the least awkward greeting I can imagine, for men.  They won’t go in for a hug usually, but a handshake is never awkward.  Then they can show they’re a bit more friendly by adding a half hug on to the end of it.

Women do it sometimes, but it’s mostly a guy thing.  And a guy greeting a woman will usually either shake her ha…[Read more]

@rochellaine

Our anthem is quite long too, and we usually only sing the first two verses.

Well I guess its not weird…I’ve just never seen anyone do it. It just sounds awkward, trying to handshake and hug at the  same time.

@jenwriter17 No, I do not. 🙂  How does that work?

(I do know what Goodreads is, of course!  I use it all the time to look up books.  I’m just not sure what an author account would do or how you would set it up.)

@ariel-ashira I’ll be praying!

@seekjustice Most Americans only know the first verse of the National Anthem, but it’s a very long verse.  The second verse talks about God, so Christians sing it in church or when we get together for hymn sings, but regular people don’t know it.  Have you ever heard the American National Anthem?  It’s famous for being an extremely complicated so…[Read more]

@rochellaine

I saw a meme on Pinterest the other day about Aussies singing the national anthem and it was so accurate. Basically, we’re usually only asked to sing the anthem during Anzac Day or other military commemorations. We’re asked to take off our hats and stand, then we hesitantly begin to sing “Australians, let us all we rejoice for we are…[Read more]

@rochellaine Ha, that’s hilarious! Sounds like you had a great time 😉

@jenwriter17 It was wonderful!  As I was telling SeekJustice, we had the guy who played Mr. Pulitzer as our waiter, and my dad joked about not tipping him if he had realized he was the bad guy beforehand. 😛

@seekjustice Oh, okay.  I know it’s an Asian thing, and I’ve heard that it’s European too, but what you’re describing in Australia seems p…[Read more]

@rochellaine

Yes, that’s what I read. We have a much higher minimum wage here, but if you go to a nice restaurant, particularly an Asian one, there’s usually a bowl for tips on the counter. But tips are usually an indication of “You went above and beyond expected service so you deserve a little extra” and also its more like tipping the whole…[Read more]

@valtmy And now it’s the dead of night for me… 😛

Thanks!  I did enjoy Newsies very much!

Yes, that makes sense.  Actually the paramedics scene was very easy for me, but it’s the longer bridge sections that are harder.  I’m pretty much having the problem you just described: I have to have some things happen between the important scenes, wi…[Read more]

@rochellaine AH! How was it? 😀

@seekjustice Yes, I was considering asking you about that.  I’ve heard they don’t tip in Europe, but I wasn’t sure about Australia.

In America waiters are paid very little, and nearly their entire wages consist of what tips the patrons are generous enough to leave.  I believe a 15-20% tip is considered reasonable most places, and a lot of times t…[Read more]

@rochellaine

Ha! Did you know that I was researching American culture the other day for my novel and I was reading about tips. We don’t give tips in Australia. Just a curious thing I learned.