How We Spent Our Christmas Stay-cation

If there is only one good thing about living in Europe (there are many), it is the reduced workload.

First - the workweek is only 35 hours, so if I just work 9 hour days (which was pretty standard back home) I can get overtime and a 3 day weekend. So even though I've taken off early several Fridays, didn't work Black Friday, and we took our long weekend to Paris, I still hadn't used a single vacation day prior to our Switzerland trip.

Second - they give out a ridiculous amount of vacation here. Back home, I had 3 weeks, which is pretty decent considering what some people get. When I mentioned that to a guy from the UK, he was floored. For them (and I quote) "anything less than 20 days would be considered slave labor." Everyone here starts at 5 weeks, which is what I'm getting as well.

They only allow you to roll a limited number of days past December 31, which meant that I basically had 6 vacation days that needed to be taken before the end of the year. Of the 10 days between 12/22 and 1/2, 3 were public holiday and I worked the first Monday, which meant that I didn't need to work any of the rest of the time, so...Stay-cation!!!!

Since we got back from Switzerland on Saturday night, here is a summary of what we've done (in close to chronological order):

-Ate 75% of the candy and cookies that Mom mailed over
-Watched the most recent series of The Amazing Race (we thought the winners were deserving)
-Watched the most recent series of Survivor (we wished Matty would have won, but liked Bob more than the other two)
-Stayed home and played dominoes on New Years Eve and watched the biggest fireworks display in the history of the UK on TV (it was way too cold to be standing outside)
-Went to the Museum of Natural History (free, but crowded with 1/3 of the children of England)

-Watched "Bedtime Stories" (wouldn't recommend if you aren't bringing kiddos)
-Mailed off applications for new passports (old ones expire in the Spring)
-Saw the West End show "Jersey Boys" (very good if you can make it through the first 30 minutes)

-Ate our first Full English Breakfast - sausages, ham, eggs, mushroom, tomato, beans, and a slab of butter with a spot of toast on it (Yum!)

-Went to the Tate Modern art gallery (also free, but better than the MNH due to the lack of kids)
-Had a sandwich and apple cider from Borough Market
-Split up to watch separate movies - Jenna: Twilight, Aaron: 007 (we were both very happy with the movies, and the decision to not see what the other had chosen)

All in all, it was a great way to spend the holidays. We had an awesome time roaming around Switzerland for a few days and almost as good of a time hanging out together in London for the remainder. Sadly, though, work starts again on Monday...