1. Friendliness
My partner’s American and whenever we travel to the States I’m always struck by how ridiculously friendly everyone is. I’ve had long conversations with people I’ve only just met who are just genuinely interested in what life is like in other countries/how I’m finding America etc. And people tend to be very giving of themselves as well. In Britain the standard response to ‘How are you?’ is ‘Fine/great’ whatever, whereas American’s can give you a complete breakdown of their life at the moment (including an in depth medical history id you’re not careful). It’s nice though.
A couple of years ago I was flying in to meet my b/f, a blizzard hit and I got stranded in Newark. The airline was NO help (‘act of God’) and I ended up spending 6 hours in a blizzard trying to catch various trains to Philadelphia. Everyone I met along the way was so helpful. When I finally got to the Philly suburb where my bf was he insisted on taking me to his cousin’s party at a bar before we went home. I was tired, soaking wet and pissed off, but as soon as I walked through the door a barful of people I hadn’t seen in a year all yelled my name, ran up and treated me like a long lost sister. I cried :)
That’s what I like about Americans.