Yeah, I don't understand this phenomenon either, this idea that knowing people's race is a public right or something. I get that most of the time people can tell a person's race just by looking at them (though they're often not right as much as they think!) and it throws a wrench in it when someone *looks confusing,* but, uh, why does it matter? All I care when I see another person is: Are they trying to hurt me? Are they hot and smiling at me? Neither? Well, pssh, I'm moving on.

I'm sure you come up with some entertaining ways to screw with them, though. I don't get the race question (I'm very obviously white), but living in Japan I do get the nationality question, and it's fun to test what people's limits of plausibility are. For instance, no one believes me if I say I'm from Japan, but I could say I'm from India or Ghana and there are those who would totally buy it for a little while. Why does Ghana make sense while Japan doesn't? The world may never know.