Bah, when you said "Westerner", I assumed you were an Albertan. Dumb Canadian moment. I never realized that Americans don't get Good Friday off like we do in Canada.
I was thinking more like I have no idea what the holiday calendar looks like in China or India. Its a big world, some culture out there probably works opposite the west, tirelessly in the second half of the year and the first half of the year is full of their ethnic festivals.