For me, the best part of travel is immersing myself in the local culture. In France I am French, and tourists come to me and ask directions! In Spain I become Spanish, although my Spanish isn't as good as my French, while in the UK I become British. And so it goes on.
Yes, nothing like intolerance to improve relations! Of course I'm an American where ever I go. Why should I be anything else? I'll wear my sneakers and white socks and bathe and use deodorant and be friendly. New York has been inundated by French tourists this summer and they slink around desperately hoping nobody recognizes them as French. They look like terrified rabbits. And you know what? They don't look the least bit American either. Nor do any of the other Europeans and nobody cares so long as they don't start learning American coinage while standing at the Starbucks register. The only people who are hard to spot are Canadians and sometimes the Kiwis and you Aussies (though you lot generally look comparatively disheveled, overly tan, and appear to have a fondness for primitive jewelry). Much of the time it's the shoes that give it away.
I'll never forget going to France and marveling at some little girl wearing a hot pink T-shirt with a picture of a squiggly line of cocaine on it with the title, "Dust of paradise," in English. I tried to inform the girl's mother that her daughter's shirt proclaimed her to be a coke whore but to no avail.
I'm not saying don't respect local customs or cultures, but the holier-than-thou attitude that Europeans direct toward American culture in general, is tiresome and rude. One thing I did love was meeting Italian tourists in the rest of Europe. The disdain for everything not Italian they encountered that just sweated from them deliciously pleased me no end. They were sneering in the Louvre, in Chartres, in Dresden, in Prague, and the National Gallery. I loved that they dressed better than everyone else and clearly weren't impressed by anything they saw because, quite rightly, their cultural treasures back home are second to none.
Oddly enough, the Italians come to New York and they don't sneer at everything. Maybe then do in the museums, but I haven't noticed. They certainly do at the Italian restaurants (I've never caught an Italian tourist in an Italian restaurant, just making comments as they walk by or they look at the menu and snigger). I think it's because Europe doesn't have a city like New York. There's some respect there and I appreciate that.