Yegads PG! A good tipper! How could you;)
That’s a fair assumption of Americans. And it fits our profile (open, friendly, brave, generous…leaving out the negative!)
I also find that most people are easily able to put aside what they may think of American politics / government (whether good or bad) and “take” people at face value / as individuals - and that we all want the same thing, to care for our families, have good jobs, live our lives in peace.
My son and I speak passable French; my H took it in school but isn’t anywhere near as good as we are (but he thinks he is). One time in France, he was trying to ask someone where a trashcan was; we tried to help, but he wasn’t having any part of it. So he said to a man passing by, “Ou est le garBAHHGE?” No, honey, that didn’t make the word garbage any more French than saying TarZHAY makes Target French 
(The word he was looking for was poubelle.)
Reminds me of my Air Force buddies who asked for “Aqua” (for water) in a restaurant.
S1 is fluent Spanish. 2 is almost fluent French. I’m a good sport with both, and ppl appreciate the effort! In Germany, the defintely like to hear you try:). Even if I’m tapped out after an exchange of pleasantries!!
I make it a point to learn and use please, thank you, hello, goodbye, etc. in the local language in every country I visit, as well as learn to sight read other words that may be important. I can pick out sounds in Russian so I know that PECTOPAH means restaurant, that kind of thing. I think it’s the least I can do.
White socks on male or female. Excessively sensible shoes on women. Depending on the country, bright color. Women over a certain age in Asia do not wear bright colors. Muted only.
In the case of the Mainland Chinese tourists, there has been an awareness and an effort by the PRC government mass media and online social media to hold badly behaved tourists to account to some extent. Sometimes to extremes:
“The most hated groups these days among hospitality service providers in Europe are the newest of the new rich - mainly Chinese and Russians (loud and disrespectful to the frontline staff). Another generation and I am sure this will change too.”
So true, and it is not just the frontline and other staff who feel this way.
(This reminds me that I need to plan a visit to the Orchid before the new owners make their planned changes.)
In London a few years ago we kept seeing young people with shirts that said “Franklin and Marshall”. Being the cc nerd that I am, I assumed they were American college students. Found out it is the name of a clothing brand.
i frequently travel solo. In Germany, I’m always initially spoken to “auf Deutsch”. when with Hubby, I can see confusion - I guess I somehow look the part naturally and he doesn’t. Irony is that DH worked in Germany and has better German than I do. One of my sons and I were taken as French by scammers in Italy, one of those groups on the street that approach and try to get you to sign something. We heard them discussing us as we walked in their direction - when we didn’t react to the English that they tried on everyone, we heard them say “French, French!” And they switched languages. We were somewhat flattered by the mistake. Same son, we attended a concert given by a French boys choir in Paris. We happened to be sitting right behind a number of former members, now all young 20s as my son then was. He was wearing dark Banana Republic jeans and knit shirt and looked just lije them if you didn’t look too carefully at his shoes.
Baggy, frumpy clothes.
We just got back from Aix-en-Provence, where our daughter is studying this year, and every person we saw had on fitted, well-tailored clothes, regardless of age or size. And yes, there are overweight people in France. Middle-aged women wore skinny, ankle length jeans/pants with boots or sneakers, with a sweater or jacket and a scarf. The men wore collared shirts and fitted jeans (no baggy Levi’s) or khaki pants, and a scarf. Even in Aix, where the days were sunny and warm, people wore scarves and thin, quilted down jackets. I wear scarves, too, but would have broiled to death in a jacket of any kind, being from Boston.
The rule for European style is that if it looks good on you, you can wear it, regardless of your age. ( I saw 70 year old women in short skirts and patterned tights and they looked chic.) And lots of women of all ages think that leggings as pants are A-okay. Somehow, they manage to look good.
We just got back from our second european travel. We chose not to wear outerwear with distinctively American logos/wording, such as green Bay Packers, or Chicago Bulls. Though we saw plenty of high school and college age kids in sneakers, we saw very very few adults in them. Plenty of women we saw, younger and older, in skirts with hosiery, sometimes what we in U.S. call tights, some in regular hose. It was warm, but very few were bare-legged as is popular now in U.S. Saw lots of dressy boots on women over the calf height, some w/ heels, some flat.
Every umbrella and coat we saw was black, except for a few grey. Did not see any of the colorful pinks, blues, multi-colors popular here.
@FallGirl , my husband made a similar mistake a few years ago at Disney World, when he announced that there was a massive youth group from Hollister (CA, where he grew up) because he saw dozens of kids wearing shirts with Hollister on them.
Massmom, yes, I noticed that people wore clothes that fit them.
Besides my mother and father in law in Sweden, all of the relatives wear all black , all the time. I like black , but I like colors too. We saw a trend in Denmark that was interesting since they tend to wear a lot of black too…there was the most gorgeous shade of salmon pink in a lot of the shops for both men and women…a muted tone and it looked great on the people I saw wearing it.
No way would my family over there wear it …not black enough 
Black is an inexpensive color to wear. It goes with everything and doesn’t show dirt. It is only when one has more disposable income that one could afford to have other colors. It is more apparent when it comes to more expensive clothing or accessory items, like coat, handbag and shoes. When I see a woman carrying a bright color bag, I know she also has her basic bags in black or brown.
It’s not always about greater expense though your point about black being a low maintenance color is on point. It’s also a good default if one doesn’t care or in my case, doesn’t want to put too much thought beyond picking up whatever in the drawer, tossing it on, and heading out.
Also, at least from the males I see in my social circle/areas…males aren’t nearly as likely to wear bright colors…especially pink unless they are artistically inclined and/or extremely secure in their masculinity.
One thing I found of interest is finding Mainland Chinese males being much more willing to wear extremely bright colored clothing…including pink shirts and pants which few mainstream hetero US male would be caught wearing IME.
I never allowed my kids to go out in sneakers, unless they were going straight to a gym. Never understood why people would go out in their gym clothes to stores or any where public.
- Sneakers are much more comfortable than most formal shoes...especially high-heels. Still don't know how wearers of high heels can walk more than two steps in them...and yes, I did try with the permission of a few female friends and an ex.
- They are oftentimes better for your feet if you do a lot of walking or one's work requires some heavy lifting and walking as some past jobs required from my experience and those of several friends who have foot problems/injuries due to wearing formal shoes/high heels for years. Sorry, but I don't view having to go to a foot surgeon in my mid-40s or later to be a worthwhile price to pay for complying with certain fashion norms.