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My experience with how people outside the borders of our nation view us can be summed up with these two little anecdotes:
1. I spent 4 years in Germany. While out with some friends one night in a German restaurant, there was a table of other Americans in the restaurant the same time we were there. They were drinking and being a tad bit obnoxious. Their waiter spoke very little English to them. When the waiter would walk away, they would say to each other, "Why don't they learn to speak English? We saved their asses. They need to learn to respect us." Remember, this was in a German restaurant in Germany. These are the same people who bitch that those who come to America won't learn English.
2. I spent many, many nights in Luxembourg. The club I used to frequent was a melting pot of Europe. The people who worked there came from Spain, Belgium, Italy, England, France, Germany, you name it. I became friends with many of them over the course of a few years. It took them nearly a year to realize that I was American and not British. When they realized I was an American, they were truly shocked. When I asked why, the reply was, "Because most Americans we get in here get loud and insulting and love to fight." They told me it was entertainment for them to watch the Americans come in and bet how long it would be before they were asked to leave.
Granted, with population of nearly 300 million, it's impossible to peg us in any particular fashion, but it's always been my understanding that in most circumstances around the world, the view of Americans is that we're arrogant, ignorant, and obnoxious.
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"I can normally tell how intelligent a man is by how stupid he thinks I am" - Cormac McCarthy, All The Pretty Horses
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