answer:What I think you’re not understanding is that America as a country is viewed negatively because of all those political reasons etc… but the reason why Americans are viewed negatively is because there is a stereotype that American tourists are rude, fat, loud and ignorant (I know not all Americans are like that, but, hey, stereotypes always come from somewhere). If you want to not be marked as an American, don’t be that type of American tourist. I assume you aren’t anyway, so it’s not that hard. Just don’t be loud, don’t expect others to know English outside of the tourism industry, learn a bit of the local language to use in shops and restaurants and don’t wear typical tourist clothing. As for pretending to be from Canada, I wouldn’t think you’d be expected to know any more about Canada than any normal European would – so you should be fine, unless you run into a real Canadian! If you’re going to be having conversations with other people, make up a backstory first (like what city you’re from etc.). I’ve also heard of Americans stitching Canadian flags onto their bags, and wearing clothing that have small Canadian flags (don’t make it look deliberate though).