I’ve visited the United States 5 times, am no expert but do have some general opinions about the parts of America I have visited. Americans are generally speaking friendlier than people here or in the other parts of Europe I’ve visited. Some Europeans complain about the supposedly disingenuous “Have a nice day!” politeness that they’ve encountered in the USA but I’ll take that over bad manners or gruffness any day.
There is a significant amount of ignorance of Ireland in particular and Europe in general but I wouldn’t be too surprised if the same level of ignorance of the US was the norm here. I’ve been asked questions like “Do they have pizza/microwaves/television in Ireland?”
One particular thing I’ve noticed about Americans (again speaking generally not universally) is that they’re more open, more willing to talk to complete or relative strangers about intensely personal issues. I dunno if this is too much off topic but that’s my ha’penny’s worth.
Since I’ve been in Asia for the last few years, most of the Europeans I’ve met recently have been living abroad, with a few that have just been travelling abroad. The majority I’ve met understand that Americans are of all different kinds and there really hasn’t been much of a consistent stereotype. Every Euro has obviously met a different set of Americans and thus tends to have a fairly distinct impression, since the variety in personality (even in Americans abroad) seems to be quite high.
Some of the Euro-impressions that I’ve encountered most frequently:
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Americans are more earnest or excitable than Euros, both in the dynamic go-get’em way and in the over-the-top, roll-your-eyes cheesy way. This may have to do with the relative abundance of (undeclared) American missionaries in these parts.
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Along those lines, Americans are more religious than Euros.
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Americans are ignorant of foreign affairs. However, this view does not (for the most part) apply to Americans living abroad, just ones who’ve never left the mainland.
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Americans are fat. However, this impression does not seem to come from contact with US expats (I think British here are fatter!), but from movies, TV series, etc. Fair enough
In general, Americans are essentially treated like other Europeans where I’m at right now. I’ve heard before that some USers feel like they’re not part of the Euro-club (among travelers/expats), but I have never felt like that here. There is a definitely a Western club feel, though; expats from USA/Europe/Australasia and expats from Asia definitely have a level of unspoken mutual exclusion here.
You worked with my ex-girlfriend?