I don't use my real name which I love very much. Last night when I came off from class at 10:00, I had another mourning guest who my late mother and I taught years ago. It is great that we become friends over time. She is now a loving and artistically-talented mother of two. She calls me Rika-san instead of Professor as you are supposed to do as a civilized person. I believe in "pretence of equality (in the level of knowledge and experience)" in my class of any level, in which case, Professor may not be quite suitable. That's why I invented the former nickname, "Ricky." A Japanese would feel too strange calling your teacher simply by their first name. It would be too impolite. But a foreign-sounding nickname would work, I thought. It would be a good practice of "r" sound which we do not have, as you know. So, Rikki is a strategic tool at work. But I came to use it with foreign friends because it would be a bit complicated to pronounce "(R)ika-chan." I added my foreignness (not necessarily Asian sounding, though) to English speakers by replacing the ending -cky with kki. But I truly love my real name, 理佳☆♪★　（R）ika. It was a gift from my dear father.