A La indirect communication

One day, my students all told me they were coming to class. 20 minutes later, I was ready to begin, but no students! Here, if you have a problem, you don't tell the person with whom you have the conflict, you tell others, who may or may not tell you that there is a problem. For me, this can be frustrating, but for them, that's just the way to communicate.... and to be honest, I didn't mind not having class.