On learning Spanish, and on being (thought of as) mixed blood

I took the level test at the Cervantes Institute today, and I tested into B.12, which is a lower/middle level of the intermediate level. It was a little shocking to realize just how much I have forgotten since June, but I think it is perfectly understandable since I have studied less than a dozen hours over the past four months. Although the Spanish conversation nights are going well and adding a few new faces each week, I think that nothing but sitting down and studying is gonna help me remember all of the verb tenses that I have forgotten how to construct. Anyway, since it would take me so long to get from my home to the Cervantes Institute I decided to enroll in an online course (for about 1/8 of the price of an in-person course). If I want to take a course in person, I can always give that a shot in January, when a new round of classes start. In the mean time I will use self-study, the online course, and the conversation night to try and improv my Spanish a bit.

Aside from actually registering for the class, the most interesting part was when one of the people working in the office asked me (in Chinese) "Are your parents both from the United States? Why can you speak Chinese? Are you a mixed blood child?" I told her that both my parents were born in the U.S., and I just happened to decide to study languages when I was in college. She said I looked like I could be a mixed blood child. It once again illustrated what I perceive as a common view here in China: foreigners learning Chinese is not normal, so if a foreigner (like me) can speak some Chinese (like I can) there must be some special reason or unusual situation for it (such as being half-Chinese, as I am not). I think the idea that people can learn any language they like without any special reason is quite foreign to many people's mindsets around here.