'Semester' or 'Why yes, I am the only one in the office...'

Swedes have this wonderful thing that is called 'semester', or as the rest of the world would call it, vacation. Now where I come from you get 2 weeks of vacation a year. That is it until such a time has passed that you have had enough years of service to get maybe an extra week. In Sweden you get 5 weeks, right out of the gate. 

This summer I have had an extraordinary amount of work to accomplish, all of us at work have as there are several projects going on. Oops, forgot to mention that I report to and am based out of Canada so I get all the (limited) vacation time that most Canadians have (read:2 weeks) so I have been going into the office every day. 

It seems that most Swedes take their summer holidays for the month of July. Yes, that is the entire month. I noticed this when I returned to work from my one week off at the beginning of July and came to the realization that myself, and the receptionist who was a temp, were there only two people in the office. For an entire month. 

Now that wouldn't be so bad, except now that August is here everyone is returning and asking me; "where did you go on semester?" to which I must reply; "Oh I spent a week in the US." Of course I then get the; "where else did you go" and I have to say "nowhere, back to work." 

It is at that moment that the eyebrows raise, and a look of genuine surprise and I then must explain the differences between vacation time in Europe and North American vacation time. I have gotten used to explaining it (though I think I might just have to have it printed on business cards to make it easier) but I still have not gotten used to that slight look of pity I get. LOL