Thanks to an over-caffeinated media, travelers were pretty freaked out about the swine flu for a while there. Now that it no longer looks like the end of the world, though, everyone's mellowed out a bit, and the story is gradually falling off newspaper front pages. While it's never a good idea to panic, the H1N1 hysteria does leave one positive development in its wake: hand shaking is no longer a required greeting. In fact, it's frowned upon in many situations, which comes as a relief to people like me, who've always found the forced physical contact a little skeevy, especially during runny-nose season. ]]> Victor Ozols 2009-05-09T12:46:59-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/4/2/154655/9647

Now we know why our invite to Buckingham Palace keeps getting lost in the mail: First Lady Michelle Obama unwittingly exposed the British taboo against touching the queen, causing cultural critics to bemoan the end of friendship between both copies but ultimately resorting in nothing worse than a string of adorable photos.

The Obamas arrived in London this week bearing gifts (including an iPod for Her Majesty) and plans for the forthcoming G-20 Meeting. As the First Lady met the Queen, she curtsied, but then shook her hand firmly, a huge no-no. And later, when posing for pictures, she even touched the Queen. But soon enough they had their arms around each other's backs like old camp buddies, and other world leaders were jealous.

Is the take-away here that the Obamas, unlike most travelers, can do anything they want abroad and still be adored? Hardly; it only takes one disastrous state dinner to ruin his international face. But here's what Michelle Obama didn't do: Get flustered and over-apologize. Maybe she had words with the queen, but she treated her with the same warmth and grace that she treats everyone. And hey, at least it wasn't a fistbump moment again.

Still, we say you should always be prepared to know what's acceptable in terms of hand-shaking abroad and what's not--provided that you aren't meeting royalty or germaphobes.]]> egw 2009-04-02T16:34:29-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/