HOW ARE YOU?

When i came to japan one of the phrases i taught the most was "How are you?". At first i thought to myself do we really say that back in america? and laugh ... Funny, but anyways i will teach it day in and day out to the kids. So elem, jr, etc, they all know it. So comes my trip back home listening to people talk and actually people do ask "How are you?". Funny i never realized it til recently. Probably because it is disguised in with other phrases such as "How are you doing?", "How are you today?" ... most of these things i pretty much encounter when shopping, but its good to know that hey its useful.