As a Finn, working at an U.S. company, small talk is something I really struggled with and still don't fully understand. The people I interact with it seems like we have found sort of a middle ground, where people obviously still ask "How are you?", but people still feel comfortable to answer "Not so well, XYZ happened". Maybe I'm naive but I feel like that helps prevent issues from getting too big and offers a safe space to share how you feel and get compassion from your peers.