I am finally starting to understand what Kiwis mean when they say "Americans work too hard." Easter Holiday here is five days long, including Anzac day on Monday, Good Friday, and a Uni holiday on Tuesday. No one comes in to Uni on these days, except for the Americans. In fact, the university is locked over holidays, so you have to use your card to get through all the doors. Before holidays, the University sends out an email forbidding anyone from coming to the university over the holiday period, and explicitly asks the professors that do come to let them know why they were at uni and on what days. Apparently wanting to work is not a valid excuse.
Not only does the university shut down on holidays, but the entire city does as well. On public holidays, businesses are fined for being open unless they have a permit to do so. Those that have permits are usually in the tourist industry. Since Wellington is not a huge tourist destination, almost everything is closed on holidays. It's a bit surprising to see the capital city of New Zealand completely dead. I walked downtown on Good Friday to head to the Warehouse (NZ equivalent of Walmart), and it was closed. Even the supermarket was closed.
I guess I should take this as a lesson that I should stop working as hard.
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