Wǒ shì Angelababy.

One of the latest trends in my classes is to call me by any name that happens to pop into their heads. At first, it was just Bailey. Then it was Failey, Tailey, Kailey, Hailey and pretty much any other letter that they could think of to put in front of -ailey. A little while later, it was Baby. Then it was any letter that they could think of to put in front of -aby. It was during this Baby phase (which they still do sometimes because they think it's hilarious) that one of my students asked me if I was Angelababy. (Angelababy is a Chinese actress and model who is super, super popular right now.) At first, I said "no, no, no." But then, I ran into a group of my students in the stairwell and they all started screaming "Angelababy" and, I realized, this is probably exactly what it feels like to be Angelababy. When she goes out in public she probably has people calling her name, reaching out to hold her hand and giving her high fives (although I bet they aren't all 8 year olds) and she probably has a bodyguard who helps her move past the crowds (although it probably is not a co-teacher who is screaming "go to class"). Which means that, in a way, I am Angelababy. So, when they asked if I was Angelababy I started saying, "Yes. I absolutely am." (I realize now that these sorts of jokes could be the reason behind why they don't view me as an authoritative figure...ah, well. hindsights 20/20). For awhile, they stopped asking. They went back to calling me whatever they could think of (I answer to pretty much anything. Teacher. Laoshi. Bailey. Long drawn out whines. Depending on the day I will even answer to Yaaaaaaaa. The only names that had to be stopped were mommy and baymax. Those were crossing the line. I also had to tell the girl who calls me "beautiful teacher" that she could only say it when she meant it and not when she wanted to be picked for a game....she hasn't said it since..). Until today. Today, I was talking with a group of students after one of my classes about how I was an American and they were Chinese (because thats pretty much the only thing that I can talk about in Chinese). During this conversation, one little boy pointed at me and said "you are American. you are a foreigner". When I agreed, he grabbed my arm and said "wait a minute, you are a foreigner. You are not Chinese. Angelababy is Chinese. You are not Angelababy." And with that, I went from being an English teacher by day and a Chinese pop icon by night to a full time English teacher.