The Easter holidays start on Thursday. Actually, for many Norwegians, the holiday started last Friday. While around 90% of Norwegians technically belong to the Evangelical-Lutheran
Church of Norway, this is not an overly religious country. For many Norwegians in Oslo, this long weekend is a chance for them to go skiing one last time before spring really arrives. Plus, the holidays related to Easter guarantee a minimum number of days off.
In Norway, you only get a day off for a public holiday if you are normally scheduled to work on the day it falls. This means that since Norway's Constitution Day (May 17) falls on a Sunday this year, it's not a real holiday to me - I have to be at work the Friday before and the Monday after. It seems strange to me. So this year, even though there are 10 public holidays, only 8 of them are actually days off for me, and it looks like next year will be even worse - 3 of the days fall on the weekend, as does January 1, 2011. Darn.
For those of you who are curious, here are the public holidays for 2009:
1 Jan New Year's Day.
9 Apr Holy Thursday.
10 Apr Good Friday.
13 Apr Easter Monday.
1 May May Day.
17 May Constitution Day.
21 May Ascension.
1 Jun Whit Monday.
25-26 Dec Christmas.
In Norway, you only get a day off for a public holiday if you are normally scheduled to work on the day it falls. This means that since Norway's Constitution Day (May 17) falls on a Sunday this year, it's not a real holiday to me - I have to be at work the Friday before and the Monday after. It seems strange to me. So this year, even though there are 10 public holidays, only 8 of them are actually days off for me, and it looks like next year will be even worse - 3 of the days fall on the weekend, as does January 1, 2011. Darn.
For those of you who are curious, here are the public holidays for 2009:
1 Jan New Year's Day.
9 Apr Holy Thursday.
10 Apr Good Friday.
13 Apr Easter Monday.
1 May May Day.
17 May Constitution Day.
21 May Ascension.
1 Jun Whit Monday.
25-26 Dec Christmas.
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