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| Angelika/Mike Schilli |
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Michael Germans tend to think "how well off we are with our great number of holidays, the whole world looks upon us with envy!" but that's a common misconception. While Americans can take far fewer vacation days than Germans, the number of national holidays is pretty much the same in both countries.
Before I get into more detail, I need to clarify that there are Federal Holidays in the U.S., enacted by the United States Congress, but they're not binding for businesses in the private sector. They're also called "Banking Holidays", describing holidays only obeyed by banks and other slacker shops like public schools and the post office. In the private sector, businesses pick the most important federal holidays for their employees, which typically results in two or three fewer days off. In addition, and in contrast to most parts of Europe, stores often open for extended hours on major holidays. When would the busily working population be able to shop otherwise?
Here are all American holidays in detail: New Year's Day obviously falls on January 1st and is always a welcome day off work. While parts of Germany celebrate the religious holiday of Epiphany on January 6th, there's no such thing in the U.S.. On the third Monday in January, Americans celebrate the birthday of African-American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., who was assassinated in 1968. Celebrating this holiday on a Monday every day is quite an interesting choice, since the MLK's birthday is on January 15th, which falls on a differnt day of the week every year. However, in their astonishing pragmatism, Americans celebrate the holiday on a Monday each year, to make sure that they get a long weekend out of it!
President's day on the 2nd Monday in February, also known as "Washington's Birthday", is celebrated in honor of the first of a long line of American Presidents. The actual birthday of the man on the backside of the One Dollar Bill was on February 22nd. Then comes a long stretch without federal holidays for the working population until way into May, because Easter and Pentecost, which are big religious holidays in Germany aren't celebrated here as much and hence the following Mondays are regular working days. An exception is Good Friday before Easter, when the New York Stock Exchange is closed, but that's a private enterprise and not a government-run institution.
"Memorial Day" on the last Monday in May is to honor fallen American soldiers of various wars. People with fallen soldiers in the family might pay them a visit at the local cemetary. July 4th marks Independence Day, when people ignite child-safe table fireworks while eating Hot Dogs to commemorate the date when the United States cut themselves loose from British rule. The U.S. used to be a British colony whey back when, but when Britain asked for taxation without representing Americans in British government, this got old pretty quickly. The 4th of July holiday is a major deal, and if it falls on a Thursday in a given year, companies often give Friday off as well for an extra long weekend. If it's on a Sunday, the Monday after is off as well. If it's on a Saturday, the Friday leading up to it is a holiday as well.
"Labor Day" on the first Monday in September is conceptually similar to the 1st of May in Germany, except that it's not unions parading the streets with red flags asking for lofty wage increases. Instead, in the U.S., you'll see families driving to a public park in their neighborhood, throwing hamburger patties on the grill and an egg-shaped leather ball through the air.
How "Columbus Day" on the second Monday in October is celebrated depends on where you live. It is virtually unknown in states like South Dakota or Alaska, and in states who do recognize it, only schools, banks and the post office are closed. It commemorates October 12th, 1492, when Columbus anchored his ship and stepped on American soil for the first time. November 11th 1918, on the other hand, marks the end of the First World War, and Americans celebrate "Veteran's Day" on this date. That's another one of these holidays that hardly any company recognizes, except maybe military-friendly defense contractors.
Then, in November, there's the most important holiday of all: Thanksgiving, originally some kind of harvest celebration, but nowadays a family holiday where everyone and their dog is travelling home to their family and all major airports turn into disaster areas. Several generations of an extended family then sit together at home, take a minute to reflect on life, and family members take turns in proclaiming what they're thankful for. While this is happening, people consume abnormous amounts of braised turkey with a lumpy sauce called gravy, drink cheap red wine, and makes resolutions on the next day, like going on a diet or get a membership at the local fitness club. During the following weeks, there's always reheated turkey leftovers for dinner, until finally they can't take it anymore.
And then Christmas. American children are disadvantaged compared to their German friends because they need to wait until the morning hours of December 25th. Also, they believe that "Santa Claus" brings the presents on a sled hauled by reindeers, and he's entering people's houses through the chimney. There's no "Christ Child" at work here, as German children believe the little baby somehow teleports the presents under their Christmas trees. German kids can already play with their presents on Christmas eve (12/24), which is uneventful in the United States. Usually, it's not even a day off work, but the day after, Christmas day, certainly is, and often the day after that as well. Christmas day is one of the few holidays when many stores are actually closed. I've learned this the hard way by pulling up to a Safeway grocery store parking lot and rubbing my eyes in disbelief. In the U.S., unbelievable! On these days, people need to resort to small mom and pop shops to get their groceries, they're always open and especially on these days.
New Year's Eve is, as in Germany, not an official holiday in the U.S. All in all, the working population in the United States is enjoying about 12 or more holidays a year. And they're never lost because most of them always are on a business day. In comparison, German holidays differ by state, sometimes vanish because they fall on a weekend. To give you an example, the state of Bavaria celebrates about 15 holidays per year that could potentially fall on a business day. Americans fare quite well in comparison. Sure, when it comes to vacation time, they're far behind, of course. New employees usually start with two weeks per year, which is laughable compared to the six weeks that are standard in Germany. But since I've been at Yahoo for eight years already, I've been enjoying a solid five weeks of vacation per year lately, believe it or not!
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