Minesril ...or your American in Florence could have been making fun of himself, and trying to be accommodating to the restaurant.
The American interviewing you...was obviously asking what you studied at University. Did you just insist that in the UK people don't have a "major" or did you tell him what you studied, and explain that courses here tend to be focused on one or two subjects?
As an American living in the UK, I am often surprised at the misconceptions people have about the US University system, and even more surprised when people don't believe what I tell them about studying in the US.
I guess every country sees its own way of doing things as "normal": the British think children need to wear weirdly gendered uniforms in order to learn; the Dutch have Zwarte Piet; the Germans reprimand strangers for walking across a street when no cars are anywhere in sight.
I have always found the US, with no national curriculum, no school uniform, a nation of immigrants from wildly different cultures, to be relatively accepting of differences, interested in cultural variations, open minded about people's ways of talking, dressing, eating.
The horrible, evil administration we currently have, the growing inequality, the frequent reports of racism and intolerance, the unimaginable denial of science, truth, and logic, have shaken me and my whole network of American friends to the core. This is not the country I know.
It is a little upsetting, though not at all surprising, to read that most British people see Americans as loud, rude, simplistic, brash, etc. Some of the comments are bizarre though- Americans obsessed with poo and unable to wear tights in sub-zero temperatures?