I spent 6 years in northern Europe and "hei, I'm from Saudi Arabia btw, where u from?" was the single best conversation starter for me. But then again in oftentimes I was the first and only Saudi a lot of them interacted with. I felt like a unicorn and was treated as such. Come to think of it, aside from a handful of Iraqis and Iranians, there weren't many middle easterners around.

I got a lot of questions on the issues of women driving and religious police, keep in mind this was pre-mbs. But they weren't confrontational or derogatory in any way way, they were genuine and valid questions at the time.

I hated the rich Saudi stereotype the most. It didn't help that I was walking around with an iPhone in 2007. Also, when the Tunisian/Egyptian revolution started I became defacto spokesperson of all arabs and muslims, I didn't like that one bit.

But to be fair, my interactions weren't with 18-24 American college students. I remember experiencing those when xbl first became a thing...pleasant times.