This totally bothered me too, at the beginning. Took me a few weeks to understand that "Hi, how are you" is the American equivalent of "Hey", "Hello", "Good Mor

This totally bothered me too, at the beginning. Took me a few weeks to understand that "Hi, how are you" is the American equivalent of "Hey", "Hello", "Good Morning" etc from other countries/culture. It seems rude, but it is just a habit than being intentionally rude. It sure is confusing to foreigners when we move here. But yeah, it would be nice to just say Hi.