We don't have them down South (and I think of them as roundabouts), but I've come to appreciate them when I come across them. As Cram said, they're a big improvement over 4 way stops (and probably cause even less confusion).
As for people trying to wave me in ahead of my turn, it's amazing how annoying somebody can be when they're just trying to be courteous. When I approach an intersection I know who's where on all four sides, and who should be going when. Comes with being both observant and highly aggressive. I'll actually time my stop to make sure I'm quite obviously the first or last to arrive. Seems like that should make things easier, but it damn sure does not.
One of life's great annoyances is people who simply cannot enter an intersection unless all other cars have come to a complete stop. I don't blindly assume that oncoming traffic is going to stop, that would be foolish, but once they've already begun stopping, made eye contact, and perhaps even waved me through, I do trust that they're not going to suddenly stomp on it to T-bone me like some idiot criminals from a bad episode of CHiPs.