Planning vacations. Who knew that would be revealed as one of the widest culture gaps in the UAE?

In short, westerners plan vacations. Often far in advance.

In general, Emiratis plan little or not at all for vacations.

And each group finds the other’s approach baffling.

Take, for instance, the looming Islamic holiday of Eid Al Adha.

One of the most-read stories today on The National’s website is an account of how a sigificant number of western expats, in the country as teachers, have been caught off balance by the official timing of Big Eid, as it is sometimes called.

It lands on Saturday, which is a regular off day, and then two holiday days follow, Sunday (the first day of the work week) and Monday.

And then everyone is supposed to be back at work on Tuesday.

Many of the teachers from Europe and North America had planned quick vacations, leaving Thursday night (the end of the work week here), perhaps, and returning Tuesday — to be back at work on Wednesday.

Making it trickier is that some school officials produced a calendar which suggested that Tuesday, October 7, would be a holiday.

Which is not unreasonable, given that twice in the past year (Big Eid last year, Eid Al Fitr, this year) we had nine-day holidays. Encompassing an entire work week, with weekends at each end. Why, then, would the biggest holiday in the Muslim calendar be only four days, total?

But the small print in those teachers’ contracts apparently says something like, “subject to change” … and it turns out Eid Al Adha this year is celebrated only through Monday — and teachers have been ordered to show up for work on Tuesday.

To the Emiratis, this is not even a problem, and they have trouble getting their minds around it.

Emiratis, and perhaps many Arabs, generally do not plan vacations in advance, as is common in the west. It is considered presumptuous, on a theological level, that a person should plan so far in advance when God controls everyone’s destiny. Also in there might be a bit of sheer superstition.

Of course, this approach can lead in strange directions. Like the Emirati family we know who had been thinking about a Disney cruise, but waited too long to book and had to take another vacation entirely.

Emiratis also often pay a premium for booking late.

On the other hand, they are amused by westerners who think they know where they will be nearly every hour of the day when they are on vacation.

Why get so stressed? Why insist on planning so thoroughly when change is inevitable?

They also could note that Islamic religious holidays are a function of moon sightings. Depending on when the sighting is made, a holiday can start earlier than expected, or later.

Why plan, then, when everyone in the country ought to know that you cannot be sure about these things until about a day before. Or even on the day itself.

So, the Emirati who wrote the story linked, above, thought the whole concept was ridiculous to the point of not being news. Only very silly people plan on the third day after Big Eid being a holiday.

But, then, the story moved up to “most-read” on The National’s website — suggesting more than a few people, probably almost entirely westerners, wonder what just happened to the five-day weekend they had planned.