Germany and Cirebonese have their
own etiquette. Are they the same? If so, what is the similarity? Or they are very
different? Then what is the dissimilarity? "Nothing is less important
than which fork you use. Etiquette is the science of living. It embraces
everything. It is ethics. It is honor."Emily Post
Meeting etiquette, in German, greetings
are formal. A quick, firm handshake is the traditional greeting. Titles are
very important and denote respect. Use a person's title and their surname until
invited to use their first name. we should say Herr or Frau and the person's
title and their surname. In general, wait for host or hostess to introduce us
to a group. When entering a room, shake hands with everyone individually,
including children. In Cirebon, greetings are formal too. The younger kiss the
older right back of hand. The younger call ‘aang’ for the older brother and
‘yayu’ for the older sister. ‘mama’ for daddy and ‘mimi’ for mom. ‘kacung’ for little
brother and ‘nok’ for the little sister. Cirebonese is not accustomed to call
the surname; they call the first name directly. For example we call the little sister;
her name is Rifqoh Aulia with ‘nok rifqoh’ or ‘nok iqoh’. We call the older brother;
his name is Luckee Adhock with ‘aang Lukee’ or ‘ang Luk’
Dining Etiquette, if
we are invited to a German's house, we should arrive on time as
punctuality indicates proper planning. Never arrive early. Never arrive more
than 15 minutes later than invited without telephoning to explain you have been
detained. Send a handwritten thank you note the following day to thank
your hostess for her hospitality. In other hand if we are invited to a
Cirebonese house, we should arrive in time in order respect the host or
hostess. It’s not good if we come too late, Cirebon people can forgive if
delayed for about five until ten minutes although without telephoning
beforehand.
