“Here in NYC, I am frequently stopped to help with directions. It must be because I wear a lot of black and I walk very fast.”
H and I were in DC a couple of weeks ago and were stopped several times by people asking how to get somewhere and even a few times on the Metro.
Only equalled by the # of selfie sticks!
bookmama, I get stopped and asked for directions several times a week in midtown Manhattan, and that’s been true my entire adult life – both in my current and previous incarnations, and however I’m dressed. I have always assumed that it’s because I’m quite small, and must look unthreatening to people. Plus, I don’t generally look like I’m paying a lot of attention to my surroundings (I can be a head in the clouds type, and often am reading a book while I walk, without ever bumping into anything), so people assume I’m a local…
I get stopped all the time everywhere for directions. I figure its because I look like the middle aged mom that I am. Approachable and nonthreatening.
I don’t think anyone has mentioned that in Europe, only Americans insist on ice in their drinks.
Today I was waiting for a bus to LAX along with a young German woman. Yep, she was wearing a huge scarf.
I think it is because our faces are more animated when we converse.
@motherbear332 the ice thing drives me crazy! Last year in Paris I ordered my drink , and said " plus glace" my waiter returned with exactly two ice cubes!
I live in Manhattan, but no one has ever asked me for directions or even talk to me. I must have very unfriendly look. I rarely do smile at people I don’t know.
When I worked in Georgetown, I always seemed to be the person approached for directions. I must have given off a the “even though I work in DC, I am really a girl from a small town in the midwest” vibe.
We were entertaining visitors from England in a restaurant when another table was celebrating a birthday. They sang happy birthday, and when they were done, most people in the restaurant applauded lightly. The English family was stunned - they had never seen such a thing, and told us that in England it would be considered rude to “eavesdrop” and act as if you were part of someone else’s family.
Later when we were visiting Independence Hall I was looking at the map and a woman stopped and asked if we needed directions. We had a quick chat, got directions, and again our English guest was surprised. He turned to me and said that he loved Americans because from what he could see, while we often fight amongst ourselves, at heart we are one big, boisterous family. 
My Russian clients tell me I “look Russian.” (I am 1/4 either Polish or Russian, depending on when in time you stop the clock. The rest is mostly German with some Irish.) I don’t really know how to take this!!
Forgot to add
Ditto on the ice thing . . . one of the few things I dislike in Europe.
I’m from the south. Please give me ice, and lots of it.
I’m wary of having iced drinks when overseas. You don’t know the water source for the ice. I’ve known people who came down very ill overseas after having ice in their drinks. When overseas, I usually drink bottled water, coffee or tea, or beer. Anything not bottled has to be boiled.
This is true @NoVADad99 .
It’s just weird to get a soda at a restaurant with little or no ice.
When we were in Germany in May I actually asked our tour guide the question - why no ice? She said Germans (and it sounds like most western Europeans) just are not accustomed to that.
She also said that people complained when air conditioning got added to the trains. (!!)
When we were there the heat drove me nuts (and I live in southern Florida where AC rules).
I don’t worry about ice, neither getting it nor the drinking. But the cream was when our German got to the point where we could actually give directions. I do agree Americans are usually friendly sorts, but anyone can be. I’ve had surprises everywhere. It’s part of why we do travel, eh? Maybe what identifies us is our hesitation about speaking the native language or even trying.
That’s what I think @lookingforward. When we were in France I tried my absolute best to start every conversation in French (which is not great but I did study it for 4 years in high school and 2 years in college).
We didn’t meet any “rude” French people; on the contrary, everyone we encountered was nice and helpful. We were in the Normandy area (where we drove our own car which was fun) and then Paris - so two different types of places.
In Germany it seemed like most people spoke very good English.
For some reason I didn’t feel that we stood out as “tourists” as much in Germany.
I love the phrase “we travel not to escape life, but so that life does not escape us.”
I think the French are plenty nice. Man, do they dislike the British though. They seem to prefer American over British.