i don't know, it's a mystery

1 month and 9 days. . . that's how long i've been here in the US. Well it hasn't been a very long time but it sure feels like a lifetime. I'm sure there are a lot of things i've yet to learn about this city and the people here but for now there are a couple of mysteries about americans i would like to explore. solving these mysteries would really help my sanity. so if you people out there have any insight on these things i'll mention, please feel free to comment. . .

mystery #1 : How (and why?) do americans walk so fast?
I swear, I think every single american can outwalk me. short, tall, fat, thin however unathletic, I always end up eating their dust. i don't know why i find it so frustrating to walk on the sidewalk and have every single person overtake me. and i don't consider myself that slow of a walker. i have tried matching their cadence (?) once i feel someone approaching from behind me but it just doesn't work. I couldn't go that fast for too far because i feel like i'll be getting cramps on my leg any time. and collapsing on the sidewalk would be even more embarassing. . .

mystery #2 : "Hi! How are you?"
I think this statement drives more foreigners crazy here than you would think. i think for most normal non-american a "How are you?" would actually mean "How are you?". I mean, you would expect to have a substantial answer to the said question, definitely more substantial than "Fine. And you?". I can't tell you how many times I've replied to this question in what to me was a normal manner only to find polite disinterest in the face of the person who is asking the question. this soooo pisses me off. why can't they just stop at "Hi!" and get on with their life? so when i speak to someone who is actually interested in knowing how i am, i hesitate to tell them anything, and i come out as the snobbish one. so how do you tell the difference between a perfunctory "Hi! How are you?" and a true blue, sincere "Hi! How are you?". . .

mystery#3: "Awesome! Wonderful! Totally!"
At a grocery store, the clerk would ask you "Find everything you need?" and I would answer "Yeah!" "Wonderful". What? What's so wonderful about finding a bag of ice and a liter of coke? These words and others like it have lost all meaning here. I can't help but wonder what americans would say if and when they do encounter something totally awesome and wonderful. They don't have the words anymore.

so there. i know i had another question earlier in my head but i can't seem to remember it. if you can enlighten me on any or all of these mysteries, please comment.

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on another note, nanay, ate me, kuya bobby and kuya jessie left this afternoon. they were here in columbus over the weekend. they arrived here saturday afternoon, which was a game day. good thing the bucks lost because things didn't look as crazy as it did when they won (don't tell anyone from osu i said this because i would be in so much trouble). We did a lot of shopping (well, i did anyway) and it was fun to have other people in my apartment. i was so bummed when they left that i didn't go to the lab this afternoon. hehe. it's awfully quiet again in my apartment. but i do have a week's supply of pan de sal, kaldereta and more than a couple of month's supply of spanish sardines. That will have to do for now. . .

6 days to go . . .