Dear new recruit,
in order to help you feel more comfortable and understand a few Atlantean traditions, here is a short list of holidays which are considered important on Atlantis.
The Atlantean Holidays, provisional
Carnival
Date: Middle of February
Since Atlantis does miss the five essential things to make a great carnival (beer, tequila, hot music, pretty dancers, more beer) this is a sad affair and should best be forgotten. Red cardboard nose are just not funny.
Easter holidays
Date: Should be somewhere in March or April?
Except for a short vesper for those who'd like to attend, this holiday isn't any special from other days. For this is a multinational expedition, religion based official holidays would do no good. In the first year the senior staff thought about setting up an Easter egg hunt; but since there's no way to tell what might hatch out off eggs not found, the idea was given up again. This is Pegasus after all.
St. Holy cow Batman's day
Date: 12nd May
A 'Beware the Weir' day. On this day, McKay, Zelenka, Sheppard and Lorne have to give Dr Weir a full official debriefing on the progress made in the labs and on the major offworld missions over the past year. This report goes off to the SGC, and will influence the funding for the expeditions. So naturally, most of the senior staff will be a bit … insufferable during this time. This holiday is used to bond with ones colleagues, for they are in the same situation and may know some tricks how to avoid McKay and Sheppard one doesn't. Usually ear plugs, tissues and free back rubs are given to sweethearts and best friends to prove ones affection.
Feel free to clean festival
Date: Usually once a month
One of the three 'Beware the Weir' days; better known as 'The return of the charlady'. After getting a glimpse of one of the more comfortable (as in 'a bit messy') quarters, Weir give everybody on Atlantis half a day off – so that they can, if they feel like it, tidy up their quarters, or the halls and common rooms… Or the sanitary systems if one didn't get the 'voluntary' part…
Merry Trade mass
Date: First week of October
The second of the 'Beware the Weir' days. During the first weeks of October most of our regular trading partners will bring in their harvest, and it is up to Dr Weir to make up new trade agreements. Since the shipping of the grains and other goods needs constant supervision (for the Pegasus natives do know hell of a lot about profit maximization), almost everybody will be signed up for an offworld team sooner or later. Which is quite nice for a change, because most of our trading partners are jolly folks who love to celebrate - and get us drunk so we won't notice the minor alterations on the trading agreements… Which is where the 'Beware the Weir' part comes in, for one will have to explain how beer suddenly became way more important than potatoes and herbs, and how one changed the trading agreements according to it…
Hanuffee
Date: varies, usually 8 days before the Daedalus drops out of hyperspace
On the evening of the ninth day til D-Day, somebody notices there's only coffee for one day left. Panic starts to spread, when out of nowhere the smell of sweet roasted coffee comes! Soon the kitchen chef will appear, holding a pot of fresh delicious coffee, soothing the masses. Though only minutes ago, everybody would have sworn there was not one single coffee bean left on the base, the coffee last for another miraculously 8 days, until the new consignment is delivered!
(Anybody solving the mystery behind this will be exiled for high treason. Ignorance and coffee are bliss.)
Hellowraith
Date: October, 31th
Except for the annoying kids ringing your doorbell, the absence of sweets, and the poor choice in horror movies, this holiday is just the same as on earth.
Be grateful for what you've got day
Date: Fourth Thursday in November
In the evening, everybody comes down to the mess hall to celebrate the fact we have enough food to complain about breakfast, lunch or dinner tasting strange.
D-Day
Date: Monday or Tuesday, every second month
In the morning, everybody will get up, eyes bright with expectation and joy. People will sing, get along with each other and have a great time; now and then someone will hack into the city security system to 'test' the long range sensors and see if there is any sign of the Daedalus yet. When Santa Cla – uhm, Caldwell will hail Atlantis, everybody will put down work and go down to pier 2, to watch Santa's little helpers sort through the luggage; some will even faint from excitement on seeing their things having made it through. With big glowing eyes and serene smiles, the scientists will float around in the labs, happily sipping on a cup of fresh brewed coffee. An air of happiness and peace will linger everywhere … at least until we run out of chocolate or coffee again.
New recruits day
Date: January, 1th
On this day, everybody who has been on Atlantis less than a year gets to celebrate his/ her survival up so far; if you have made some friends already, you might even get a cake or something. From this day on, you are no new recruit anymore, you're an official Atlantean. You will still be considered stupid, unfit and a threat to security by all senior staff, but at least you have earned the right to be arrogant towards new recruits. Happy new recruits day!