The wave was greeting enough. He likely wouldn't have fully understood the bow any better than those people who had laughed at Mikado's formality anyway. They were used in England to demonstrate respect of course but not really to the level that the Japanese used them.

"Then this place holds the same history as any other. Songs and stories of love and loss are popular in nearly every age. People are drawn together and then torn apart, due to family affiliations, uncertainty, war... I'm not surprised to hear that cycle has continued here."

And yes, racial and class differences as well. Haytham had seen similiar stories play out before. The class system of England was really very strict. You had to be born into a proper family, had to associate with the proper people... Had he not been pulled here even Haytham would find himself in a relationship broken by cultural differences and his deep desire to change the world into the kind of ordered place he believed would bring peace. But, for now at least the relationship he had with Ziio held. They even found themselves allies in the same guild.

"Do you read sheet music? I believe there are actually a few songs in the book, towards the back."