Friday, we had a pretty interesting night. Started out great, had a big challenge, and ended up 'ok' but not stupendous... We went to the Freer Gallery to see a film called "Twelve Nights", part of their annual Hong-Kong film festival. It was pretty cool... A funny story about a typically neurotic couple in a big Asian city... ;) You should definitely see it if you get a chance.

Afterwards, we went over to Adams Morgan on the subway to hang out. On the subway there were 4 or 5 black kids (13 or 14 years old) screwing around, and acting incredibly obnoxious. They were screaming, laughing, yelling, and one girl was running up and down the car swinging on the bars... It was not an empty car, this being a Friday night, and all the other passengers were pretty angry. So finally, I said to one kid "Why don't you guys just try to chill out a bit, ok?" And guess what? Of course, he starts threatening me. The girl started into some rant about me attempting to "talk black" (apparently because I used the word 'chill'), and they began to make racist comments about me and my wife Yuki (Korean descent).

Unfortunately, Yuki got angry at them too, and said some things that probably made them even more antagonistic, but when we were about to leave the subway, and one kid rudely pushed past my wife to get out, while threatening to smack her, I got pretty angry myself. I got up in his face and repeatedly asked him who he thought he was going to smack.

He was about a head taller than me (I'm 5'10"), and I'm sure he didn't realize I have been practicing various martial arts for 8 years, on and off, but he saw that I was serious and they backed off, resorting to immature insults from a distance.

Regardless of your confidence level, this sort of thing will always give you a shot of adrenaline, and it can be hard to deal with... Yuki was fine after a while, but it was a crummy experience. We agreed that it's sad these kids don't have any discipline. Their minds are so closed that they fail to realize the effect their behavior has on the other passengers. This is Washington, D.C. -- the capital of the U.S. Tourists see this sort of behavior and think that D.C. is dangerous, uncivilized, etc, and these people have no clue that it's because of them. Argh. Not only that, but it gives more than a bit of fuel to racism. A lot of people here would see that and decide that they should just never venture into D.C. The problem isn't that they're black, though -- the problem is that they are poor, uneducated, and undisciplined, and that they often live in an insular culture where these attributes are tolerated if not accepted...

Luckily, we got to Adams Morgan, and after relaxing at an Ethiopian restaurant for a while, began to feel better. We got some drinks at Tryst, and headed home having eaten a bit too much, but it was a good time altogether... :)