mistaken identity

"The last time we met, it was in the UK, later when I came back I joined tooot; where have you been all these while?"  I was puzzled, thinking when on earth had I been to the UK (then), and who is this guy?  To avoid embarassment, I just replied,  "Oh, really?  I have been working in tooot for a few years now.  Will you excuse me, I need to go to the washroom", I excused myself purposely to avoid continuing the conversation with this guy whom I didn't have any slightest idea who he was.   

I believe many of us have come across similar situations. 

During my school days, I had always been mistaken as a Chinese girl, perhaps due to my rather fair skin, looks, straight hair and wearing pinafore most of the time.  My family was staying in Kampung Tasek Ampang where to travel to and fro school, I had to pass-by a big Chinese temple where every year there will be an annual prayers for Buddhists (kaw wong yeh).  People alighting the bus always asked me in Chinese language whether they were taking the right bus.  I always nodded my head for that (even though I did not understand what they were asking but I assumed they were heading for the kaw wong yeh).

When I was in India, some people mistook me as being one of them; they spoke Hindi to me but I quickly said that I was not local; they claimed that I had the feature of those Indians from the border region (maybe the Nepalese....).

During my trip to the settlement of the nomadic Penans in Ulu Baram, Sarawak; surprisingly one of the Penans thought that I had been there before, and coming there again to re-visit them.  The message was conveyed through their local interpreter, Mr. David Kala.  Apparently, they used to get many researchers from all over the world visiting them and I was mistakenly identified as a researcher who had visited them earlier.  

At times, they were people asking me whether I am related to tooot (a singer) or this tooot (a politician) due to the resemblance of features.  Oh God, do I look like them...?  I don't think so.  The husband of one of my relatives had been approached for an autograph by a fan of one popular singer (in the 1980s) due to mistaken identity.  

What else to say....I believe it happens to everybody.