Even on the other side of the world we know about the U.S. federal government shutdown. The cable news stations love that story, and have for weeks — especially on days when no global natural disaster has presented itself for our delectation.

The potential default of the U.S. national debt also has been talked about, in Eurasia — because when the U.S. economy sneezes the rest of the world catches cold. Still.

What most of you may not know about is the current nine-day UAE government shutdown.

This does not involve intractable politicians. It is all about holidays, felicitously placed. (Unless you are a manager, that is.)

In the coming week, the Day of Arafat leads into Eid Al Adha, one of the biggest holidays on the Muslim calendar and makes for the biggest stretch of religious holidays of the year. Generally, four days — one for Arafat, three for Big Eid.

Usually, at least one of those four days will fall on a weekend, and the actual “holiday” will be three weekdays. Perhaps even two, if the holiday goes through the weekend.

This year, however, the Arafat holiday falls on Monday, and Eid Al Adha begins the next day, Tuesday.

So, how did this turn into nine days off?

Friday and Saturday is the weekend here, for government workers. This year, we have a holiday on Monday, followed by the three-day holiday beginning on Tuesday, which takes us right back to next weekend, Friday and Sunday (October 19-20).

So, do government workers come in for the one “weekday” in this entire period — Sunday, October 14 — having been off the previous two days and the subsequent six?

No, they do not. The government here has designated Sunday as a day off, too, completing the five-day link between two weekends … and, voila, a “nine-day government shutdown”.

Of course, the private sector doesn’t stop. Same as in the States. The National will be printed every day, and all shop owners will work nearly all those days (and maybe all of them, with a couple of mornings off).

For those of you thinking of coming to work in the UAE, even the private sector is giving a bunch of holiday time this week.

Thus, at The National, on top of the five weeks of paid vacation given to every full-time employee, we have, this week, five days of lieu time — which is tantamount to a sixth week of vacation.

Then, when you add in the 2-3 holiday days for Eid Al Fitr (back at the end of Ramadan), and the 2-3 off you will have for National Day (December 2; the UAE’s version of the Fourth of July) … that amounts to what is a seventh week of vacation, over the course of a year.

(Thing about print journalism; we tend to have to work the actual holiday, but we do get the time off … eventually. I probably have worked 25 of the past 30 Christmases.)

Anyway, like in the U.S., don’t plan to go to court, get married, obtain a driver’s license, etc., during the holiday-driven government shutdown.

Unlike the U.S., don’t worry about a UAE government default later this week.