I’m going to throw out a WAG that they are speaking spanish, and greek, because you’re in THEIR territory; they’re not in YOURS, so to speak. 
I wore a Panama hat into Tijuana, and people were trying to speak Spanish to me. That was kind of nice actually, until I tried to answer in Spanish. Even if my answer, was just, “¡No!”, they instantly got my accent, and switched to English. Really? From one single word?
My dad is half Armenian, with black curly hair, and olive skin. He used to be mistaken for a native in an amazing variety of countries he traveled to, including both Greece and Mexico.
That’s true, but when I go into a Mexican shop, I’m very rarely addressed in Spanish, even though the person in front of me or the person behind me is addressed in Spanish. I simply don’t look Mexican/Latino. On the other hand, I’ve been on flights on Air France, Malév (Hungarian), and Lufthansa where the person sitting next to me would be addressed in English, while I would be addressed to in the language of the airline’s country of origin. It was bizarre.
The word “no” has a vowel that is very distinctive in the mouths of English speakers.
It’s a glide – something like [əɒu] or [əɔu] in general American (usually written in simplified form as [oʊ]) and [əʊ] in Received Pronunciation.
In Spanish, Italian, French, and many other languages, it’s a pure vowel [o], and it’s very easy to catch out a native English speaker from just that one vowel.
Among speakers of Indian languages, such as Hindi, it is a stereotype that Englishmen can’t produce a pure vowel – they have to glide everything.
I (Anglo-American), was addressed in French in Montreal. I don’t think you can really tell a French-Canadian from your average Anglo-Canadian or white American by sight at all.
And just because someone IS Hispanic doesn’t mean they know Spanish. My manager is surnamed Hernandez, her ethnic background is Hispanic, and she doesn’t know any more Spanish than she learns from watching Dora the Explorer with her grandchildren.
I had a college professor named Ortiz, but it was her married name. She was six feet tall, blonde and blue-eyed. More like a Valkyrie.
The bizarreness is exactly that. Why am I being addressed in the foreign language, while the people around me are generally being addressed in English? Is there something “European” about my look or something? Because if there is, I don’t know what it is. It’s not like I’m reading a French newspaper or something that would make it obvious I should be addressed in French.
Here’s my WAG – maybe you just happen to be the sort of person who has an expression of apparent intent and comprehension on their face, even when they’re just drinking in the sounds of people around them talking a language they don’t understand – and the people who then addressed you in that language simply (perhaps unconsciously) had observed that particular expression on your face.
Here in Texas, if you have olive skin, dark hair and dark eyes it’s VERY easy to get mistaken for a Hispanic/Latino. I get it all the time, esp in the summer when I’m out in the sun by the pool a lot because I get a deep tan easily.
Funny story–years ago, while we were visiting my grandmother in eastern TN, my mom and stepdad (who is Hispanic…he was born here but his parents were from Mexico) decided to leave us with Mamaw for the night while they went over the state line and stayed in Cherokee, NC. They decided while they were there they’d go visit the reservation (not sure why, though). They attempted to charge my mother an entry fee since she’s white as copy paper with flaming (well it was at the time) red hair and blue eyes. My stepfather had to explain to them that he was NOT a Native and therefore needed to be charged an entry fee also. They charged him, but according to Mom, they didn’t quite believe his story about not being a Native. 
<i>edited to add</i>
When I was younger, I got asked if I was my stepdad’s daughter all the freaking time because if you saw my mom, sister and brother with me it was like playing What’s Wrong With This Picture. Mom and my sister are like twins of each other except for the hair (sis is a dishwater blonde an d mom always had flaming red hair till it started to fade out due to age) and my brother, while not quite as paper white as Mom and Sis, also has strawberry blonde hair. Me? I have olive-y toned skin, big green eyes and really dark brown hair.
I had a neighbor once who was a tall, blonde, heavy-set female. Her name was Mrs. Kobayashi.
Well of course. You were in Montreal. The default language is French. The only reason to address you in English would be if you looked demonstrably unlike a Quebecker.
Is this something that annoys people? Because I get mistaken for being Hispanic quite often, but it always puts me in a good mood because I think Hispanic women tend to be gorgeous!
O…kay, Redshesaid. Well it was nice knowing you for awhile. Thanks for visiting and goodbye. I will miss your kind posts and PMs, logic, spelling and grammar, and self-plagiarism.
Redshesaid, you’re not allowed to insult other posters here. Don’t call people stupid or dumb, and if you’re going to keep posting here, please put a little effort into your spelling and writing so people can figure out what you’re trying to say.
Even racist sites like stormfront know spelling and grammar.
This isn’t quite the same thing, but names and appearances don’t always go together.
A college professor of mine told how she once had to travel(I forget why) and was met at the airport by someone holding up a card with her name on it. At first, when she identified herself, they refused to believe she was the right person, because her name(it was her married name) was Ortiz. She was six feet tall, blond and blue eyed, not the stereotypical appearance one would expect with a Hispanic name.
Yeah? Well my wife recently introduced me to her Swedish classmate, who turned out NOT to be a statuesque blonde but instead a dark-skinned black woman. I didn’t even know they had those. Spoke Swedenish and everything.
Super hot, too. I guess that part’s mandatory.
They really don’t.
No one thought you were Filipino. I don’t believe this.
What the fuck…?
Okay, after having read your second post, I see what you were getting at, but that is in no way apparent from the quote above, and I actually agree with your overall point (I think?) whose presentation was, uhh, it was something. That said, please calm down. We get that not all white people are stereotypically Nordic looking, and we also realize that Hispanic/Latino people come in many races, but I think the OP’s point is clear. Please simmer down.
Grude doesn’t need to worry about being mistaken for a Hispanic for long based on a recent thread (this thread was started only 5 months ago, seems a bit fast to go gray in that time).