Do Brits think they know everything about Americans(good & bad)?

The Mrs has informed me that I will get lots of attention because of my ascent,style of dress and my Americanism. That 99% of the attention will be positive and born out of real interest in American life style. Karen has mention that many Brits think they know a great deal about the United States even if they've never lived there.

For those of you Americans living in the UK, has your encounters with Brits been very positive and do the brits really like Americans? Do the Brits have a high opinion of we Yanks?

I met many people who were interested to meet an American and had their share of opinions (even if the extent of this was 'Wahey!  Obama!').  I found that people had a certain idea of what America was like and this mostly came from movies and TV.  (Like Die Hard or something.  Not that they expected life to be like an action movie, but that general attitude, and the guns and all that.)  People would tell me how much they love macaroni and cheese.  One time I met a man in his 50s-60s and I told him I was American.  He looked me straight in the eye and said, 'I love Clint Dempsey.'

On one visit, I brought a box of Lucky Charms to someone I know.  He remarked that he felt like he was in school when some kid would bring round the latest cool American thing that he'd somehow got from overseas.  I found that quite cute.

You can't really just lump "all British people" into one category. No matter where you go in the world there will be different types of people- nice, mean, rude, friendly, etc. Not all British people will have the same opinion of americans.   

You can't really just lump "all British people" into one category. No matter where you go in the world there will be different types of people- nice, mean, rude, friendly, etc. Not all British people will have the same opinion of americans.   

I agree with this post. It all boils down to who you meet. I'm here doing a course in the politics department so I hear things about America from both ends of the spectrum   When I first arrived I expected to see anti-Americanism but when you do see it, it's generally not what you expect. At least, that's how it was for me. However, I imagined that I would see some pro-Americanism and when I saw it, it wasn't what I expected.

The British students I have met in my course have a good opinion about the set-up of American judicial system, 'lots of powerful rhetoric,' as one student said once to me. A lot of them have said to me that we Americans are lucky to not have to fit the bill for a royal family.

I suppose I have seen a lot of 'grass is greener on the other side' syndrome. For example, because I'm from Texas so more than one person I have met over here has assumed that I'm 100% for the death penalty. I'm actually 100% anti-death penalty and all the Texans I met/know are also either completely against it or are sensitively on the fence about the issue. I was actually surprised when I spoke to a few British students about it and the census among them was that they fully supported it.

I'm in London so I wouldn't say I get a lot of attention for being American. Again, I'm from Texas so that is packed with a bunch of stereotypes already, if you know what I mean Every once in a while someone will hear my accent, whether it be in the markets or on the street when I'm with friends and they'll ask the universal question, 'where are you from?' I imagine it was a bit of a novelty for my friends, having an American friend, but it wore off. Now they don't really bring up the fact that I'm American.

A lot of the people I have met here think the strange aversion to universal health-care in the US is ridiculous and don't understand why so many are against it. I just reply that the 'American health system is the devil, but it's the devil they know.' It gets mentioned a lot, but probably do to the focus now with Obama and reform.

I guess to conclude I will say that a lot of the people I have met in the UK, both British and EU, have a good opinion about Americans. Better than I expected tbh Again, you can't lump all of British people into a nice little category. But I bet you'll meet people who are against American institutions or simply can't wait to tell you all about the fun they had on a trip they had to America. Expect to see opinions on all sides, but when you see it, I'm sure you'll be surprised.

I heard this so many times: "You're from America?  What are you doing here?"

That was often followed by a comment about disliking the weather in the UK.

People are people, no matter where you are.

Some are nice.  Some are mean.  Some are polite.  Some are rude.  Some are quiet.  Some are chatty.  Some are know-it-alls.  Some hold on to stereotypes.  Some don't.  Etc and etc.

I've only had one English person take time to talk to me about America; he was a doctor at the NHS and had done medical training in Boston.  He was excited to meet someone familiar with the area, and we chatted about how much he enjoyed his stay, and how impressed he was with the quality of medical training.

But other than him, people I've interacted with have never really seemed to care that I was American.

I actually avoid talking in public because I attract attention with my accent. I get the "why did move here?" question a lot. But also a lot of questions about politics or FL. At work people are always shocking me with their opinions about America, IE all of us own guns that you can buy at Walmart. There is one person in particular who constantly argues with me about things. She truly believes that because she's been on holiday to FL 6 times she knows everything. It gets really annoying to argue with someone who is from the UK when they claim thing like all Americans do _____.

yeah,  the know-it-all comment happened recently.

my partner was tattooing some bird,and the topic of immigration came up and she said "oh its too easy to get passports", I soon corrected her and told her the process of getting a passport, the fees involved,and even the life in the uk test crap.

She soon shut her stupid mouth up

People are people, no matter where you are.

Some are nice.  Some are mean.  Some are polite.  Some are rude.  Some are quiet.  Some are chatty.  Some are know-it-alls.  Some hold on to stereotypes.  Some don't.  Etc and etc.

Yup.  I'm in London, so being American doesn't stand out among (a) all the other Americans and, (b) everyone else.  Occasionally, I'll get a chatty person, but it's not the norm.  I've gotten doofus remarks about guns, but I also get doofus remarks from Americans who make assumptions about living here, so it all evens out.   

Of course this is not universal.

DH and I are in the East Midlands, and, boy, do we stand out as Americans on a regular basis!

Usually, we are asked if we are Canadian first. That is more polite.

Yesterday, DH and I took a jaunt over to a small, nearby village. Because it was Easter Sunday, there was a long wait for the bus back to our little city. So, we went to the pub open across from the stop. DH went the bar, and I sat down. The minute DH started ordering... the entire pub population got quiet and listened...  Our 30 minute pub-in-the-middle-of-nowhere venture was monitored carefully... especially listening into our conversation...

Many people waved as we left...

There are a lot of stereotypes about Americans. But, I don't feel that people hold me to them. Sometimes they are quite amusing. The biggest misconception that I face is that people assume I have a British husband...who should be explaining things to me about life here! And I don't!