You know, I impressed one of my Russian coworkers earlier this week by explaining some points of the geography of the former Soviet Union better than he could remember himself. Until he looked it up himself, he refused to believe an American could actually know all that stuff. (We have a good relationship, but I was, frankly, a little offended.)
And then I see a poll breaking down the entire world as either American, Canadian, British, Australian, or "Other," and I get reminded why non-Americans might think that about us...