EDUCATION
I Missed the Flight — or — How I Went from Being a Banker to a Teacher
How did I change my life by missing my plane? I dramatically changed my career, circle of people, and country of residence
Hey there, have you ever dreamt of flipping your life upside down? Well, buckle up because I’ve got a wild tale today, the real story.
It was 2015. I was your average Joe, punching numbers at the Treasury Department of a bank. One day, the mundane routine got to me, and I thought, “Why not spice things up? Just a bit…”
So, I decided to take a month-long vacation to Thailand. However, on my way back home from Thailand — I missed my flight like a champ! Yes, I was late for my “Titanic.”
But did I panic? Not really. Instead, I embraced the unexpected twist and ended up calling Thailand home sweet home.
To prove it, I should say that some journalist from Belarus caught wind of my escapade and penned an article about my accidental relocation.
Don’t believe me? Grab your online translator and see for yourself.
Spoiler alert: It’s all true. ⬇️
So, what are you waiting for?
Ready to roll the dice and embark on a slightly unusual adventure?
Let’s fly!
My Flight From Bank to School
What was my official position in the bank? Chief Economist of the Treasury Department, a title that earned me a nod or two locally. But let’s be real, crunching numbers all day got a tad snooze-worthy.
So, I hatched a genius plan — off to Thailand for a month-long vacation with a buddy.
Spoiler alert: Best. Vacation. Ever.
On my first trip, I stayed three days in Bangkok, then two weeks in Pattaya, then three days on Samui island, and at the end of my vacation, I returned with a friend to Pattaya against the original plan to continue our trip to Phuket. It just was fun in Pattaya.
Yet, I began my adventure with Thai temples and famous spots. I was well-prepared: I had read two books about Thailand and dozens of articles on different websites before going to the kingdom. I knew what was appropriate to do and what was not.
Fortunately, I shouldn’t adapt myself to their views because I share them.
As I soaked in the Thai vibes during my first trip, something clicked. I thought, “Why not make this paradise my permanent address?” However, I didn’t know how at the moment.
So, after my first vacation in the Land of Million Smiles, I started to learn Thai myself because there was not a single Thai teacher in Belarus. I took up the Thai language and learned with full commitment.
Weeks turned into months.
Cue the language lessons — suddenly, I was a Thai linguistics pro. Not really, but I was able to read simple text and speak some phrases correctly, which boosted my confidence a bit.
Then, being in Belarus, I registered on a Thai dating website to check my basic Thai skills, and I found a girl who was an English teacher. I immediately felt that I should try to teach her students with her; if not, I had Plan B — a Thai university, thanks to my Master’s degree in hand.
So, after half a year since my first trip, I decided to fly again to Thailand to teach Thai kids just for experience. I flew solo for a two-week stint, “Oh-la-la.”
Yet, two weeks was not enough, and Pattaya soaked me in from the very beginning of my vacation. I happily failed my initial plan and went back to my office with the failure in my hands.
Besides, the Thai teacher from the dating website was from Khonkaen, and I didn’t find time to fly to the Isan area, which is a bit far from Pattaya. So, I went back to Belarus with no teaching experience that time...
Teaching Proposal
After a while, I remember how I was sitting in my bank office over the numbers and learned Thai writing when I had a spare minute.
Spontaneously, the Thai girl texted me and offered to help her wrangle kids into the world of English when I was in Thailand next time.
I said, “Of course, yes!” I didn’t hesitate much and took the bull by the horns.
I took a month's vacation for the next year and went to Thailand again, and this time, I even took some official clothes with me: a jacket and my lovely French-style shirts with cuff links.
From trip one to trip three, less than two years had breezed by. However, this time, I decided to teach the children in the first place and only then to have some fun, not the other way around.
Finally, I arrived at Khonkaen and went to teach the young kids without any doubts the following morning. Call it a social experiment, call it insanity — it turned out the kids and I were vibing like old pals.
Social shackles? Ditched.
I realized it was so easy to be a kid when you were a teacher because nobody thought you were crazy if you acted like a kid while teaching.
The parents were happy, the kids were happy, I was happy, and everyone was happy.
Thereafter, after a week of teaching hand-in-hand with the Thai teacher, I was sure I was able to teach kids, and the same confidence was regarding universities.
Why?
The point is that one day, back in the academic realm, my psych professor threw me an offer I couldn’t refuse — teaching a class for her because she knew I was engrossed in psychology.
I loved it.
As a result, I taught a couple of times in front of my classmates and with great pleasure. I realized I was a sucker for psychology chit-chat and playing professor. Flashback to grad school, where my teaching mojo was on full display — banter, quirky choreography, the whole fancy-schmancy stuff.
I spoke about psycho types according to Carl Jung, with jokes and personal examples. I remember my friends laughing when I compared the epileptoid psycho type with the hysteroid one.
How?
For example, I was saying that if an epileptoid needs a bottle of water on a neighboring desk and can’t reach it, he would stand up and get that bottle of water, whereas a hysteroid will not.
The hysteroid would reach as nicely as he could for the bottle; if necessary, he would lean back a little with his chair, maybe even fall down — all this I showed with gestures and emotions.
I emphasized that hysteroids are used to doing things in a beautiful, graceful way, while epiliptoids do as it is more practical.
My mates and the professor kept chuckling, sometimes — laughing.
At that moment, I realized that I wanted to teach, but being a teacher was not prestigious in post-soviet countries — low salaries and no respect.
And here is Thailand…
The Day I Missed The Flight
Life’s a wild ride, my friend, and sometimes you just gotta roll with it.
I can roll…
It happened at the end of May. Fast forward to the grand finale of my third trip to Thailand — the last day before the homeward flight I didn’t want to go home. I didn’t want to work in any bank anymore, but I needed some paperwork. I needed to sign my car over to my parents and other paperwork formalities.
Besides, my contract expired in August, and I thought I would fly back to Thailand for a living soon after I quit my job at the bank. I knew that there was a very long queue of people who would be happy to get my position, which was great.
As a Buddhist in my worldview, I was not afraid of failures, I was not afraid of burning bridges, and I did not tie myself to material goods.
Career? All my life doing boring job? No, friends, it was just not my style to live a Groundhog Day over and over again.
Money is not the focus of my life either.
So there was no fear. I just didn’t know how to resign, how to make it better for everyone, or how to make it maximally good for everyone. I didn’t want to get my coworkers in trouble either.
I had the best colleagues ever, really. I love those people.
Yet, I decided to change my life a bit, just a bit. It was time for a life makeover, and Buddhism’s energy was doing a tap dance in my dreams, holding me in Thailand.
On the last day of my third trip to Thailand, my buddy and I were going to the airport. I felt a king-sized headache and an unhappy stomach under my skin. The eve of departure brought a wild party vibe, and we were hailing pink cabs like there was no tomorrow — every twenty minutes, to be exact.
I felt a bit under the weather…
Throw in a traffic jam and some emotional farewells, and there I was, clutching a can of beer in the airport and glaring at my watch, “Oh, no!”
Reality check — we were running late.
I went for registration just to make sure we were late. After a moment, I was approached by an Emirates Airlines employee, who offered to go to the counter to buy a ticket for the next flight.
We went, but I was so reluctant to buy a ticket back. The pricing policy helped me deal with this internal conflict.
In my pocket?
A measly $200, while the return ticket was waving its $450 price tag. Panic mode kicked in for a second, but then I took a deep breath and calmed down. Then I asked my friend about his money.
My buddy, sporting a similar financial plight with a cool $150–200, jumps on the “let’s stay” bandwagon. And just like that, life’s spontaneous rollercoaster takes another exhilarating turn.
Yes, I could give a call to my parents or friends and ask them to send the missing $200, but why?
I was so relieved when I found out I was late and didn’t have money for a return ticket that I turned to my friend and said, “Relax, we’re staying.”
My friend was also thinking of getting a job in Thailand, and he said with a smile, “I catch your drift, man. Let’s stay!”
Cheers to being fashionably late and living on a financial edge!
So, I texted my parents and coworkers to tell them not to expect me. They might have been a bit shocked.
Ha-ha-ha!
So, what was the game plan, you ask?
Well, I cooked up this genius scheme to dive into Thai language courses for a solid year — legal stay, Thai mastery, job hunting, the whole shebang. Sounds like a bulletproof plan, right?
You know, initially, finding a job seemed as elusive as finding a needle in a haystack: where the heck do I even start, and what on earth do I tell potential employers?
I couldn’t just rush into a school and yell happily, “I’m ready to be your teacher!”
For the first few days, I was just coming around. Then, after three days of my newfound motherland, cue the plot twist — a subscriber from my blogging days reached out.
Yeah, I was a bit famous in super niche circles. I had a knack for writing about love in Thailand on a website, and the readers loved it. I mean, I wrote about my adventures but with some feelings, let me say.
Two days after my decision, I remember I was sitting and chatting with tourists, and suddenly, I got a private message.
One mystery reader pops the question, “Hey, stranger! Ever thought about working in a school?”
“School? Sign me up! Is this for real?” I was in the seventh heaven.
“You betcha! You can either work with me in Thailand or elsewhere. No worries, your education checks out. Gain some experience in practice. I’m beside you.”
Talk about a plot twist!?
First off, I landed my debut interview with an American — and oh boy, was it a spectacular disaster!
Ha-ha-ha!
How bad I was! Ha-ha-ha!
I was stuttering like a broken record, adrenaline pumping like a wild river. This interview was my ticket to the good life, and I was blowing it.
The American hit me with a curveball — “How about being a computer teacher?”
I was dumbfounded.
Couldn’t lie, couldn’t say no, and I definitely couldn’t say yes. I didn’t even know what they teach in computer science school. Talk about being caught between a rock and a hard place.
Internal dilemmas, lack of experience, adrenaline on overdrive, and the fear of letting down the person who hooked me up with this job — I was in a serious battle with myself, folks … I totally failed my interviewing.
So, my buddy dropped me a text, “Today just was not your day, ma-a-an. How about letting someone else ring you up from the agency?”
Cue another call, this time from a netizen in South Africa with an accent that’s a bit trickier to decipher than the American one. Yet, there was the kicker — I was not breaking a sweat that time.
I was so relaxed, my sixth sense used to say: don’t worry, everything is gonna be alright!
Picture this: I’m strolling along the Sims Bay shoreline, mango juice in hand, and bam! The call hits — it was the native from the agency.
I answered, and we got into it like old pals.
I spilled my guts — not literally, but close enough. I was so zen that nervousness was just a foreign concept. I’d happily shoot the breeze with this dude again, and I had no reservations.
After a few minutes of our cozy chat, he drops the bomb — “You’re our guy, and your English is A-okay. When can you start?”
I needed a day to recharge, so I casually threw out, “How about the day after tomorrow?”
The dude on the other end chuckled, “Sure thing! You kick off in a week. We’ll drop you a line and hit you up if you’ve got any questions.”
And that’s how I landed my gig at the school. But trust me, that’s a tale for another time — the saga continues…
Ha-ha-ha! Just like this!
In fact, my reader found me the job.
Hold up, you might be wondering, “What’s the deal with the bank?”
Oh, yeah! That bank … I was officially on vacation, but I still had some days left in the tank.
Quick thinking kicked in, and I fired off an express mail resignation letter. Colleagues were in shock — not because they thought I was joking, nope, they knew me like the back of their hands. For some reason, they just didn’t know how to react to my decision.
Then, my mom swooped into the bank and snagged my documents — end of that chapter. The next thing I knew, she was shipping my diplomas and other official papers my way.
Meanwhile, a friend threw me a financial lifeline with a cool $1000 loan — just in case.
Postscriptum
When I made the decision, I realized that my colleagues wouldn’t understand my decision in the beginning, but I knew I was doing the right thing.
The fact is that our bank was preparing to downsize its staff, and for a number of reasons, I was very unlikely to be fired. However, there were people who needed the job more than me, as I saw it and still see it that way.
At first, it might have seemed like a selfish decision back then, but in reality, I had given it much thought and was absolutely certain that it was the best decision for all of us that I needed to make. I just didn’t need to be afraid … and I overcame my shadows. My outlook on life helped me to vanish my doubts.
As a result, things got even better over time because of my decision for everyone, and my ex-colleagues and I still communicate sometimes.
There was only one dilemma at the airport that could have gotten in the way. The thing is, one of my best childhood friends was getting married, and I was invited to his wedding as the bestman.
However, my friend immediately reassured me, “If you think you can be happy in Thailand, then stay, of course, try to stay. In fact, don’t worry about the wedding.”
Some people said that I was crazy, or some — I was selfish, but I had no doubt it was a win-win situation for everyone — everyone was the winner!
I didn’t care about what some people said; I didn’t answer anything either. I kept listening to my heart and ignored the negative noise to avoid producing negative energy.
Plus, I realized that the universe had given me a huge sign!
My sixth sense soothed any worries. I breathed a sigh of relief, like saying, “I’m finally starting to live...”
The happy end is coming…
As you might guess, I have been teaching in the same school for around eight years now.
For me, life is a journey, not a destination … and my journey is far from the end … but for now, I’m still a teacher in my school.
This story is about how I put on a gladiator costume in Pattaya and began blogging⬇️:
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