Things I like about New Zealand - #2

Being the holiday season, my mind is drawn to one of the very favorite things I love about NZ (ties-in to reason #1)- you're not expected to work 363 days a year.  You're not even a bad person if you don't work 363 days/year.  In fact, people here might think your priorities are somewhat ajumble if you worked that much.  A previous supervisor of mine opined that the US economy was so nice and strong because, unlike European countries (whose economies were implied to stink, and perhaps they do) we Americans worked hard/continuously (and therefore I should be ashamed to try and take a holiday - what kind of a communist would do such a thing?).  I think we all could have taken a couple more days off over the past few years and our economy would still be right where it is now.  What about NZ's holiday scheme?  The system here is the greatest!  Everyone here, regardless of your job, gets 4 weeks (20 days) personal leave on top of 2 weeks (10 days) of national holidays, e.g. Queen's b.day, Waitangi day, Boxing day, etc.  That's just plain nice.  And, the idea that you wouldn't take all of that leave is quizzical here.  It's suggested here that American's get 14 days off/year on average.  In my opinion, that's not very much, and we don't even take all of it - which was always my experience (disclaimer: the 'study' on vacation days was done by Expedia).  Now, why wouldn't someone take all the vacation time they're entitled to as part of their employment contract?  The answer to that question is one of the reasons the Grammer family finds itself here in NZ.  What do we do with our days off?  We head down to the park and make sure the cows are well-nourished.