networkYou’ve heard me complain about China’s holiday schedule before. We all do it, at least twice a year, but it does bear repeating.

Why? Two reasons: 1) anything that is misleading or incorrect should be fixed; and 2) it pisses me off that my colleagues in other countries think I am getting seven additional days of vacation.

Look, I’m no workaholic, and I do not compete with my fellow workers on who can go the longest without sleep or fewest days off in a year, or who has had the most heart attacks or divorces. If you do that sort of thing, screw you, it’s unhealthy — you’re gonna die young and alone, and the rest of us will be laughing at you during your funeral. How’s that for judgmental?

Anyway, we are coming up on China’s National Day holiday, one of two “Golden Week” celebrations. But is it really a week-long holiday? It certainly seems that way if you read anything about it in the news, and even the HR Department where I work, Yahweh bless ‘em, will no doubt put out an email to the whole of Asia telling everyone that China staff will be enjoying a 7-day holiday.

But it’s all a lie. The truth is that the 7-day holiday is a hoax. First, two of the days fall on the weekend, days we would have got off work anyway. So already we’re down to a 5-day holiday. But wait a minute, it gets better. Second, we have two “make-up” days.

This is like when you were in school and the teacher had to skip a lecture because she had to travel to Scranton at the last minute because her sister was having an emergency crotch operation. No class that day, but it was rescheduled, ’cause that lecture on gender identity conflicts in post-Lovecraftian American horror was key to the entire semester. Damn, I miss school.

Right, where was I? Oh yeah, make-up days. For the National Day holiday, we have two: September 28 (a Sunday), and October 11 (a Saturday), two days that should be restful, weekend days off work, but are now rather boring make-up sessions. So that 5-day holiday is now three.

Three days off. That’s what this really is. Now, I’m not complaining or anything – I appreciate the time off. I’m just sick and tired of my wiseass colleagues in other countries saying “I’m so jealous. I wish I had so much time off.” This coming from folks who routinely take 4-6 weeks off every summer, basking in their European/Europeanish mandatory time off. Not fair, not fair at all.

Enjoy the holiday, everyone.


© Stan for China Hearsay, 2014. |
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