Öptüm (I kissed)
In my home culture of America introductions are very important—to remember someone’s name means that you care about who they are (or at least you are pretending to care). I have not found that to be as important in Turkish culture. Many times, I have visited a friend who also has other visitors at the same time, and there has been no effort to explain who said visitors are in relation to my friend nor what their name is. We both simultaneously exist interacting with our mutual friend and even each other without a label to understand why it makes sense for either of us to be there. It is polite to introduce yourself. And i t is, of course, okay to ask who they are . It’s just that many people don’t feel it is necessary to volunteer the information unprompted. Our custom of making introductions is Turkey’s equivalent of greeting with a kiss . As a child I always thought the Biblical injunction to “greet each other with a holy kiss” was rather awkward. That was