I have met travelling Americans in both my home country of Australia, and during a trip to Japan. I will focus on the latter experience here. I remember one American, whom I'd inadvertently called "Mate." (He wasn't offended) And I remember another who grabbed the microphone in the coach and told America-centric jokes, including a misogynistic one about Hillary Clinton (this was 1996). I remembered another one who made a huge deal about the fact that there were four Italian girls on the trip and I could speak to them in Japanese. He said, "He's Australian, and she's Italian. And they can speak to each other in Japanese. Now, I think that is just fantastic!" It might seem impressive to an outsider, but, to me, it was the only common medium we had. She didn't speak much English, and my Italian was limited to, "Hello, See you later, and a few food items." But I remembered an American telling me that we, in Australia, learnt more about America than they do about themselves.

I remember, 30 years ago, my high school had an exchange teacher from Lakeport, California, and another teacher said that he'd set questions like, "Abraham Lincoln was US President from 1861 until 1865. True or False."

Being able to list every President of the USA should not be a prerequisite to studying in the USA, and I would say one thing. Lincoln's successor, Monroe, established the Monroe Doctrine of 1867, which was that the US would not become involved in European Affairs, and from that we can draw two things. One, the USA didn't become involved in the First World War until the Lusitania was sunk (this was viewed as cowardice by Theodore Roosevelt, and the US supplied both sides of the war effort, but when the Germans sank the Lusitania, the US came in on the British side). And two, as the USA wasn't involved in a lot of international conflicts, it's understandable that many people may know little of many pre-WW2 US Presidents.

Okay, many can name Theodore Roosevelt (not to be confused with Franklin) because the Teddy Bear is named in his honour, because he used to go on shooting expeditions with people like Harvey Firestone, and one day, he found a bear cub that he considered so cute that he didn't have the heart to shoot it.

Many can name Woodrow Wilson because he was the President at the time of the Versailles Peace Conference.

Franklin Roosevelt is one many can name because, a) he was the only US President to serve more than two terms, and b) he was a famous wartime president. Jesse Owens, however, describes the situation with Hitler and Roosevelt in a way that goes against common narrative. Nobody is denying the fact that Hitler was a bloodthirsty genocidal megalomaniac, however, Jesse Owens said that while Hitler made some racist statements, Hitler had to be at the Olympic Stadium at a set time and he had to leave at a set time. Hitler didn't shake hands with Jesse Owens, but he did ask for a photograph and did express some admiration for Owens' performances, while FDR snubbed Owens at a ticker tape parade for returning athletes!

What I will also say, is, some questions people will ask about India are questions that not every Indian will know. For example, if you asked "Who is known as the Little Master?" Some people in India who are not interested in cricket mightn't know, yet an English cricket historian or cricket fan will probably say, "I know that, Sachin Tendulkar."

As this guy couldn't name the current President or Prime Minister of India, it shows that he didn't take much more than an ethnocentric view of Indian life. What would have been interesting, though, would have been if you'd asked him, "Who was the leader of India at the time it became independent of Britain?" I know the answer. And (here's where it could have gotten interesting, "What was the name of the Indian Prime Minister who was assassinated in 1984?" I know the answer to that, too. Why? Well, it would have tested his knowledge of India and it also notes that the Indian Prime Minister assassinated in 1984 was a woman.