| Saturday, April 28, 2007 |
| No Place Like Home For The Holidays - Except I'm Not There |
If someone told you that a national holiday was coming up and you were getting time off from work, you'd be happy, right? With the exception of my workaholic readers, I'm guessing most of you would agree. It is lovely to have some time off for relaxation or travel. But what if they still made you work? This interesting phenomenon is what I like to call a "Chinese holiday." Instead of just giving you the day off for the national holiday (like giving you one day off for President's Day, Boxing Day or Bastille Day [for my non-existent French audience]), they make you work on days you normally wouldn't work so that they can "reallocate" your days off.
What exactly comprises this reallocation? you may be wondering. Well I'm glad you asked, because I was going to tell you anyway. Basically, instead of working my normal five-day work week, getting the Labor Day holiday on Tuesday and Wednesday free, and then working the rest of the week as usual, I have to work through the weekend including Monday. And if you worked out your dates correctly, you would have figured out that I am currently composing this post at work. On a Saturday. And I'm not even at Berlitz (which, by the way, I still had to teach for this morning).
So, in advance, I apologize if I'm a bit grumpy. But today and tomorrow are going to be 7:00AM-6:00PM workdays on a weekend that I was really hoping to have off, especially coming as it is after a long week of working and biking (see post "On A Collision Course?" below). Eight days a week - my professional life is the reincarnation of a Beatles song that I believe subconciously promotes slave-driving (though, admittedly, the Beatles song is talking about 'loving' eight days a week and I'm talking about staring at a computer screen for nine hours at a clip).
But to be fair - in return - we get Tuesday, May 1st through Monday, May 7th off - returning on the 8th. Rest assured that every night next week, I will be out until dawn and sleeping until dinner. May I also say that I am thoroughly excited for the arrival of some long-lost friends who will be making their way to Beijing: the ever-feisty Drea (who is currently living and studying in Lhasa) and Amy (my favorite real estate mogul/coffee-fetcher) who is based out of Hong Kong. If I make it through the looooong weekend, we're looking forward to some good times! |
posted by Rachel @ 1:38 PM   |
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| In China, the people are represented by two separate, yet equally important groups. The Chinese, who call this land "home," and the expats who migrate here. My name is Rachel. I am an expat. These are my stories. |
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