"When an American asks me this question, it's like a wall of ice crashing down between us." my Moscow-born friend Galina said. The question is "How are you?". The answer Americans give, of course is, "Fine." But when Russians hear this they think one of two things: you are experiencing a rare moment of fineness or you are lying. Ask a Russian, "How are you?" and you will hear, for better or worse, the truth. I have experienced many painful minutes of silence after my grandmother made her stock response: "Terrible," to which she might add, "Why? Because being old is terrible and I am very old." "'Fine' makes Russians think that Americans have no soul," I explained recently to an American-born friend. "That they just want to go home, eat a frozen dinner in front of the TV, and wait out the hours before going to work to make money again." He laughed, "You know, there's something to that." The thing most Russians don't realize is that, in English, "How are you?" isn't a question at all, but a form of "hi", like the Russian "privyet!" Psychologists at the University of Michigan have shown that, while Russians are, indeed, easier to be depressed than Americans, their open acceptance of bad experiences might be healthier. Recently, when I looked through a few American guides on traveling to Russia, I was disappointed to find that they all suggested that tourists adopt the American approach to "How are you". When you ask a Russian "how are you" the Russian will   _  .
answer "fine" tell you the truth make no answer get angry and walk away