« This is not a disaster... | Main | As American as apple pie »
July 04, 2005
Happy Independence Day!
Actually, I wanted to write about this last week when my sister told me she was gearing up for her three-day weekend, but I was not inspired. And don't think I am going to ramble on and on about America's 219th birthday, because it does not feel like a holiday to me.
You see, holiday dissonance is one of the disorders that most expats are inflicted with. I see july 4th and think "barbecue", "park/beach" and "day off", but I am at work. Other examples include palm trees with Christmas decorations, or fireworks in January. Oh, and ask me about White Day sometime...it is not a holiday per se, but worth a rant or two.
I am not complaining about the lost holiday (that comes below), but rather the timing: most Americans are working on 18 July, but we have the day off in Japan. It is Marine Day! As an American, it is pretty hard to get worked up for that.
As for losing holidays, that has nothing to do with being an expat and everything to do with traveling. Invariably, I will be in London for Japanese holidays and Japan for UK holidays. If it was the other way around, I would be quite happy - but it never is. I can't explain it. Some might say it is karma, but then I would have had to have taken someone else's holidays from them, or taken more than my share earlier in my life - I have done neither.
Anyway, happy July 4th to all those in the US. Of course, you won't read this because you will be at the beach.