15 Minutes of Fame

Everyone dies famous in a small town, or so Sugarland tells us.  But every lao wei (foreign devil) makes it big in Beijing…..at least to a certain extent.  Just this month, one of my roommates got a full page photo in the Beijinger.  For the uninitiated, the Beijinger is one of the local magazines geared toward expatriates in Beijing.  As mentioned in earlier posts, locals tend to stick all foreigners into the category of “other”, so pretty much every foreigner in the capital reads the Beijinger.  Even I, your humble blogger, occasionally make it into the photos on the Beijinger website. 

My roommate’s success led to an obvious celebration amount our apartment.  All lao wei experience a brushes with fame here.  I myself enjoyed a short Chollywood acting career.  Let me tell you, Chollywood is a tough town.  My experiences now make for great conversation.  For example, I am pretty sure that I inadvertently started in a Chinese Viagra add.  I should have left the set when they pulled out the side-by-side bathtubs.  I kid, this didn’t happen.  The commercial was for credit card pin machines…..or at least I hope.

 I always use the topic to flirt with women.  The joke that I am now the third most recognizable person in Cambodia serves as a litmus test.  If they laugh, they are intelligent, can take a joke, and are potential dating material.  If they give a response, such as, “wow, really?”  They aren’t dating material, but they now think that I am the third most recognizable person in Cambodia.  So at least I have that going for me.  The topic also became a running joke in my family.  My “Chollywood Actor of the Year” award from my mom and dad remains the best Christmas gift I have ever received.    

One of the key takeaways from this post should be that these experiences, and the excitement they bring, keep an otherwise stagnant city fresh and vibrant.  I’d never have gotten to have a Chollywood career, however brief, in Indiana.  So remember folks, every lao wei leaves Red China’s capital as at least a D list celebrity.  And that is pretty cool.