Hey! Howz it going?

Its been two weeks since I've been in the US now. Orientation is over and classes started on Monday.

On the first day of school, just before the prof started, an American-born Indian crosses by me and says, "Hey, howz it going?". And he's gone even before I could open my mouth to respond! What a wierd guy I thought. Then I noticed everyone says the same thing to everyone else here.

One of my American classmates later went on to tell me that this is just another way of saying a polite Hello. No one cares about the answer anyways.

So, how do you answer back when someone comes up to you and says, "Howz it Going?" and actually does not walk away. A little more research into this tells me that there's two standard responses to this. 1: "Ummm, not too bad". 2: Smile and say, "Howz it going" even before he's finished his question! I found the latter more exciting so I myself end up saying "Howz it going" most of the times.

Well, that's public speaking lesson number one for me in the US.

On Fuqua, its a great school. The class composition is diverse, not only in terms of nationalities represented but also in terms of professions and richness of work and life experiences. Its amazing to sit in a class and listen to so many diverse perspectives on the same topic.

The Team Fuqua culture is not just an 'on the website' thing. You get the feeling that everyone really goes out of the way to help others around. All in all, looks like I am going to have a good time over the next two years.

So, if you ask me Howz it going, I'd say, "Not too bad" :)