Foreigner stereotypes

As the title says, this is about some of the stereotypes some of my students have about foreigners in Korea.

Firstly: Spicy Food. I like spicy food. But somehow every time I eat food with my students they all ask, "too spicy?" I usually reply with, "No, i really like spicy food." And their response is usually one of awe and wonder. It doesn't bother me, but often its the same students that I have had for months that are always surprised, even though i have been out with them many times before and they have already asked me many times before if I like spicy food. Sometimes even in one night with two different dishes they will ask me twice if its too spicy.

Secondly: Chopsticks. Usually when I go out with my students and I pick up a set of chopsticks, some of my students are rather impressed that I can use them. They tell me, "its ok we can ask for a fork." Thats when I begin to explain that i have lived here for half a year and can use chopsticks (not in a pretentious way, although when i write it down here it sounds pretentious). Sometimes I wonder how you could live in Korea for 6 months and not know how to use chopsticks since the majority of restaurants will not have forks, but they are still surprised. I think they think that I only eat at western restaurants

Thirdly: the Subway. As mentioned earlier, we have lived here for over six months. I commute to work everyday with the bus and the subway. Sometimes after going out with students they wonder how I will get home and explain how I can use the subway to go home. Again they are shocked at the fact that I can navigate Korean subways, then they try to explain to me how i need to transfer to a different subway line and what i need to do. I am not entirely sure how they think i go home each day.

Anyway, those are some of the things that seem to happen each time I go out with my students.