Lithuanian Out Loud

When you greet a Lithuanian at his or her house, flat or say the front door of a restaurant, whatever you do, don’t shake hands across the threshold of the doorway.  Yeah, that one surprised me too but I was brusquely corrected on it recently. Now, of course, you can greet each other as your guest opens the door but the physical shaking of hands must be done either inside or outside the threshold.  If you do it wrong – baaaad luck! Same goes for kissing on the cheek with close friends.  Either the person who is at home opening the door must step out through the door and past the threshold or the guest or guests have to come all the way inside before kisses can be shared.  Same as a handshake – if you do it wrong, it’s bad luck.  Who makes this stuff up, anyway?  How do you kiss Raminta?  Do you kiss on the left cheek first or right cheek first?  Straight to the lips!  But, really, traditionally.  Really?  With your girlfriend?  With the girlfriend.  Tradition – to the lips…oho…okay, something I didn’t notice…