I wanted to leave last week during school to grab my bank card since we had just been paid (Wahoo! Finally!!). I knew perfectly well this would be fine, but thought it more polite to ask. The teacher I asked misunderstood, thinking I wanted her to give me a ride. Instead of simply saying no, she completely shut me out. I had no idea what was happening. Someone who had been nothing but incredibly kind to me for over a month turned to ice in a matter of seconds.
She started gathering her things, I was thinking she wanted me to pick something up for her while in town. Still completely confused and slightly in shock from this highly unusual response, I was waiting for the issue to surface. Another teacher walked in, assessed the situation and asked "What's the problem?". Then I knew I was really in trouble. Not once have I heard a Thai person acknowledge a problem, and from my understanding, once they do, you are pretty much done for.
I was still standing there puzzled, having absolutely no idea. It literally took the angry teacher walking to the door, annoyingly turning towards me saying, "Let's go" for it to dawn on me. I had my keys in my hand, showed them to her, and apologized profusely.
We laughed about it, and she very kindly said I was more than free to go on my own. It really changed things for me though. Instead of simply saying no, which I am very much under the impression they would never do, she left me feeling confused and down about the situation for no real reason. I have since had to reassess my opinions of the culture. Although it is really fantastic 99% of the time, having to watch for such slight misunderstandings is more than annoying. I do not think I will ever be able to get back in with the teachers the way I was as a result of the incident. More to the point, I have much less desire to do so. The work environment today was friendly (and always will be), but a wall came up on both sides. This is Thailand, for ya.
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