British Stereotypes by Americans - Reacting to Being Stereotyped

This summer, I am spending two months in the United States living with an American family. I am very close with this family, so they feel comfortable speaking their minds to me. Recently, I noticed a few comments about British people. It occurred to me that these American people had stereotyped the British. Being a British person, it was surprising to me and really opened my eyes as to how people like me are portrayed by a different nationality. Although some of the stereotypes are true to some degree, I was interested by the fact that some were not true at all, and made me wonder why the British are portrayed in this way. The first one I noticed was at dinner one night. One person said, "Laura will be the most polite here because she is British." I didn't mind this stereotype because I don't see being polite as a bad thing. However, it did make me wonder 'are British people actually all that polite?' In my opinion, no. I would say that is mostly the posh people, but that doesn't mean that nobody else is polite, because many are, but also many are not. I don't think it is appropriate for British people to be well known as polite, because politeness is worldwide and that should be recognized. Another one was when one of the family members unexpectedly opened my mouth to see my teeth. I asked why, and he replied with 'oh, it's just that British people are known for having bad teeth so I just wanted to see yours.' This one I was very surprised by. Not everyone has perfect teeth, and a lot of people have bad teeth, but the majority have teeth in good condition. The last one I would like to discuss is tea. It is a very well known stereotype that British people love to drink tea. However, it is also well known that everyone likes and dislikes different things, it's a global common fact. My mother, father, and sister all drink tea, but I don't like tea. As a British person who doesn't like tea, I get a lot of funny looks when someone finds out and personally I don't like the reaction. There is no rule saying I must like tea because I am British. The thing is, I'm not the only one. So, to say that all British people like tea is wrong. Maybe it comes down to false information or misinterpretation. However, it could also be wrong of me to assume that all Americans portray the British in this way. It could just be this particular family.