Good story. I do a lot of international travel, and I do not find that the average person anywhere is really anti-American. It is abroad as it is here -- the media and universities are hotbeds of anti-Americanism. In third world countries, my experience has been the vast majority could not care less if you are from the US or from Mars. If anything, they seem to admire us for our power and wealth. But even in officially "hostile" countries -- like France (or even Syria) -- the everyday person is fine and interacts normally. It is the opinion-makers who hate us. On a person-to-person level, I have found very little anti-Americanism.
Well said Speedy.
I worked in Jakarta last year, just myself and an office full of Indonesian government employees. They were nice enough folks, no strident anti-Americanism (although I did encounter some paranoia about America from a few upper-level bureaucrats who are notorious troublemakers).
Also I was surprised that women in hijabs can be proactively flirtatious.