ANSWER THE PHONE, WILL YA!

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I don't know what got into me this morning, but I could not help but think of the different ways that people of different cultures answer the telephone.  I will disclose to you up front that I am not totally sure of every single one I have listed here.  Those I do know for sure, I have colored and made bold in black.
Those that I learned from Google are in blue and not bold.
USA                                                      HELLO
ENGLAND                                         HELLO
CANADA                                            HELLO
CANADA                                            ALLO
FRANCE                                             ALLO
ITALY                                                  PRONTO
SPAIN                                                  DIGA [TALK TO ME]
MEXICO                                              BUENO
JAPAN                                                  MOSHI-MOSHI  [?]
GERMANY                                          SIMPLY SAY YOUR SURNAME "MUELLER"
SWEDEN/DENMARK                   SAY YOUR FULL NAME "LEIF JONSSEN"
RUSSIA                                                 SLUSHAYU VAS [I AM LISTENING TO YOU]
HOLLAND                                    MET + FIRST NAME, SURNAME "MET"= "WITH"
ZIMBABWE                                        555-7777 HELLO
PHILIPPINES                                     HELLO
ISRAEL                                                 SHALOM
TURKEY                                               ALO [LIKE "ALLO"]
KOREA                                                  YOBOSAYOH  [Yo, bo, say, yo]
CHINA                                                    WEI [YES]
CUBA                                                       OIGO [I HEAR]
GREECE                                                 PARAKALO [PLEASE]
Please realize that these are the culturally common ways of answering an incoming call.  There are variants to each and every one of these.  People develop their own style.  I have a variety of styles, depending on my mood.  I also depend on my ability to assuage the surprise of the caller if I realize that this is someone to whom I owe a little more respect.  Even our cell phones let us down sometimes.  Like today, Belle called me from a telephone in her work office and the name on it was that of a gorgeous young lady, close friend to both of us.  So, I really turned it on with a schmoozie "Heeeyyy, Fancy you wanted my attention!"  Then the response, "Hey, I forgot my phone at home and I'm going to need it.  Please bring it by."  Well, that's not too bad of a mistake.  At least the "Voice from the Kitchen" got some free lovin', even if only by mistake.
My friend who just died always answered the phone with the same tone of voice, with great authority, "Woodworth."  I fairly often use what I used to use in business, "Paul here."  I never got the "wise ass" come back, "Oh, sorry I'm looking for Paul Dion."  Imagine, in thirty years, not a single soul ever did that to me.  Someone should have so that I would have something to write about.
I answered the telephone a lot during the meal times in the residence where I was staying in Rome, Italy.  It took me quite a while to get used to the formal, cultural exchange.  It goes like this,
Paul:     "Pronto." [Ready]
Caller:  "Con chi parlo?" [With whom am I speaking?"
Paul:     "Con la residencia official dei Missionarii di Nostra Signora di La Salette." [With the official residence of the La Salette Missionaries.]
Caller:  "Voglio parlare con il padre Giuseppe." [I want to speak to father Joseph.]
Paul:     "OK, I'll get him for you."
Wasn't that sweet?  Boom, boom.  Doesn't sound like the "That's amore" people at all, does it?
I have no idea how all of these telephone answering behaviors ever happened to work their way into the culture of the people around the world.  But that's what it is.  
Now, to be fair to all you Anglo Saxons out there, the hands-down, no questions asked, no doubt about it, majority of the world's people who own telephones, answer with a sound that is, or closely resembles "Hello."
So now, maybe you know something that you didn't know when you woke up this morning.