Oh yes, in Korea, I was 'mistaken' for an American. Okay I am going to say something negative now, so I will try to stay diplomatic, but I found it extremely irritating. The thing is that apart from being literally mistaken for an American, people in Korea mostly also think that American culture equals 'all western cultures'. For example they tell you, you can call them by their English name. And I then tell them, I am not English, and I would like to know their Korean names and use it. That most Americans are not interested in other cultures and languages does not mean I am. Also I like spicy food, since in the Netherlands we have many Indonesian restaurants, I am used to spicy food, and then they brought me junkfood from McDonalds. Stuff like that. I am Dutch, I am not American! We have a total different culture! Not 'all whites' are American.

Nevertheless when I expressed my irritation to a Korean girl, she told me, that when she was studying in the Netherlands, she got equally sick of being called Chinese. So it kinda was reversed karma. :-) And she told me there are even T-shirts with "I am not an American" in Korean. I took a look at the website, but those T-shirts were sold out though. But, apparently, since such T-shirts existed, I was not the only one with this problem.

Yes! Haha, been misunderstood as an Arab- maybe because of my strong interest in the Arabic culture. I just laugh it off and say Im not Arabic (Deep down I take it as a compliment!) :}

Last year four American students and I went to a neighbour town to Oktoberfest (yes, it is celebrated in Russia too), we didn't have a car because we drank beer, if you drink beer or alcohol you are not allowed to drive a car in Russia. When it was over we waited for a bus to Yekaterinburg at a bus stop and I asked a Russian girl about the bus time-table, she answered, I asked about something else, the Americans asked her too, I interpreted, we talked and then this Russian girl told me (I am a native Russian speaker!) that I spoke Russian rather well. I decided not to disappoint her.

Yes, I have been mistaken for English many times and it annoys the hell out of me, I mean, just because I put the 'u' in colour doesn't mean I'm English.

Thank you all for your comments!