The holiday situation was strange overseas. Of course, the Germans didn't celebrate 4th of July, Thanksgiving or Memorial Day, but they had their own holidays which had no meaning for me. It was really strange to work on the American holidays with no BBQs, parties or fireworks planned. (By the way, Germans are only allowed to shoot off fireworks on New Year's Eve.) And then when a German holiday rolled around, I got a day off for what seemed to be no apparent reason at all. It certainly didn't feel very festive on those days!
Another issue is the word "holiday" itself. For anyone who hasn't spent much time with British folks, you should know that the word "holiday" is used for both bank/national holidays and vacation days. "Holiday" pretty much means any days you're happy not to be at the office (so sick time isn't included in that). Now that I'm back in the States, it gets very confusing for me when people talk about holidays at work...particularly in HR discussions. My brain still thinks of holidays as vacation time in addition to the typical 6-12 days companies graciously allow their entire staff to stay home on.
So now that the season is approaching, "HAPPY HOLIDAYS"...which in my mind includes any vacation time you've got planned in the near future.
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