the boy sitting next to me

'Are you Buddhist?' asked the boy sitting next to me. I did not know what to answer. I doubted. My teacher at the monastery said to me that being a Buddhist means being good, therefore, I feel myself like a Buddhist. But I think the boy sitting next to me didn't mean that so I answered, 'No I'm not'.

'I ask because you are wearing Buddhist beads and reading a Buddhist book...so is it just for fun?' Suddenly I felt kind of guilty, no it is not for fun, I meditate, I managed to reply feeling yet something like ashamed. I wonder what it is that makes you a Buddhist, at least in the eyes of other Buddhists. Is it some kind of ceremony you undergo, some kind of baptism? When can you say without a shadow of doubt in your voice "I am Buddhist."