I tried, really I did

[aryanhwy]

Last year, I failed to take all of my vacation hours, and so 60.60 were carried over to this year. And this year, I was scrupulous: Nearly every time I went somewhere for a conference, I stuck a day or two on either end for vacation/sight-seeing, and I declared all of those days. I declared days when friends were visiting and I didn't go into the office. I tried my best to use up as much vacation as possible (vacation hours that are used, the university pays for. vacation hours that are not used, the dept. pays for. the dept. likes it when we take our vacation). I tried, I really did.

And how many hours do I currently have left for the rest of the year? (This is including the fact that I've already declared time off from tomorrow till the end of the week, and the week between Christmas and New Year's is mandatory time off, so those days off don't come out of my personal vacation). 139.40! That's slightly more than 18 days of vacation left.

How do people do it? How on earth can they use up as much vacation time as you get here in Europe??

I'm not sure how many of these 139.40 hours will carry over to next year (there is a cap on vacation hours that can be brought forward, but I don't remember what it is). But if I can bring it all, then somehow or other I've got to find a way to take 371.4 hours (=almost 49 days) of vacation next year. Must start conniving! :)

Comments

[aryanhwy.livejournal.com]

True. The stories I've been told of France and Italy shutting down for August are legion. But summer is generally the most conference-heavy season, since it's the time that academics don't have teaching obligations. That makes taking off for a month harder in summer than other times.

[eliskimo.livejournal.com]

Hmmm. Teaching obligations make it harder. Otherwise I'd suggest taking every holiday you can think of:

Epiphany/Twelfth Night
Martin Luther King Day
Imboloc/Candlemas
Presidents Day -- aw, heck! Take Lincoln's Birthday and Washingston's Birthday separately!
Valentine's Day
St. David's Day
Easter Monday (a fine Italian tradition - great day for picnics)
Anzac Day
....


:)

[aryanhwy.livejournal.com]

Easter Monday is a holiday for the university, which means I get vacation but don't use up vacation hours! It's usually the first of slew in late spring -- Easter Monday, Queen's Day, May Day, Liberation Day, Whitsunday, Whitmonday, Ascension Day.... And usually somewhere in the middle is another mandatory vacation day (placed so that we end up with a 5-day weekend in early May).