Moving from the familiar to the unknown can be challenging, in more ways than one might anticipate. Obviously, moving across the globe, away from family and loved ones, is hard. And working at a new job and learning to interact with new colleagues can sometimes feel difficult, too. But, when one has to also deal with surfacing a million cultural assumptions–the things we take for granted every single day, the things upon which our societies are built and around which our cultures are organized–life can feel a confusing and a bit exhausting.
For example, did you ever actually consider how the Western weekend came into existence? Well, from what I understand, our five-day workweek, followed by a two day weekend came about as a result of combining the Jewish sabbath and the Christian day of rest. See, the Christians observed the sabbath by ceasing work on Sundays, and the Jews observe Friday sundown until Saturday sundown as a day of rest. This being the case, America began taking both Saturday and Sunday together as days of rest, thus resulting in our current weekend.
For Muslims, Friday is the day specified for coming together for communal prayer. So, here in Qatar, the weekend is Friday and Saturday, which means the work week is Sunday through Thursday. Now, imagine shifting your whole week back by one day: all the things you do on Monday, shift to Sunday. Your weekend begins on Thursday night, and you head back to work on Sunday morning.
I’m still trying to wrap my brain around all of this, but I think this is right:
Thursday is Friday
Friday is Sunday
Saturday is Saturday
Sunday is Monday
I’m feeling all scrambled up, but I’m hoping to adjust quickly!
feisty living 
Sadly, a full weekend is a thing of the past for many people in the west. Those who work retail, for instance, feel blessed if they land two days off in a row, whichever part of the week those days fall into. Doctors and nurses, too. Vicars … Taking a Sabbath day, whenever you can take it, is vital for mental, physical, spiritual well-being; but a person these days needs to be mindful about taking one; so often, in the west, a day off is used to catch up on chores, or to work on an ever-extending to-do list. It’s easier to allocate self-refreshment time when one has off two full days together. A refreshed worker is an effective, energized worker: employers, take note!
I’m with you, I felt the same way when I first arrived to Dubai. Don’t worry, you’ll get the hang of it sooner that you’d expect. 🙂