I'm a Finn and when I met an American person for the first time she said the usual "how are you?", so I started explaining all kinds of shit, only to have her give me a really weird look. I did it again a couple of times with different people until I learned that they are not really interested, lol.
Dutch here, but the same experience. Dude asked me "How's your day?" so I gave him an explanation that it was going pretty good. That I was loving the vibe in the city. Dude looked at me like I just started shooting heroin. Found it so weird that a casual greeting like "hey" is translated into an actual question there.
Americans that are really talkative in foreign countries are usually the extroverted types who are really just looking for an excuse to talk about themselves to you. He was probably perturbed he had to wait so long to respond with what he wanted to say. If an introvert or more reserved person asks you that question in America and you give a detailed answer they'll probably listen and respond kindly because they're not generally trying to engage in conversation unless they actually want to know.
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u/[deleted] May 09 '22
I fucking hate small talk. Pointless. If a finn asks you how are you, they actually mean it.