They take days off for family vacations, summer vacations, winter break, autumn break, etc. They will drive their car with the caravan and go to a camping site in France. It maybe take two days to drive one way. Camping means you set up your camp, and do something, or mostly, not doing anything but sunbathing for days.
We have perhaps...10 days off every year and after adding up the public holidays we have, usually we spent on a trip to Bali or Korea for exactly how many days we have off. We came back from airport, dropped everything into the washing machine and go right back into work.
Their friends gatherings, or birthday parties, usually is between meals. You have your dinner with family at 6pm, then meet for coffee at somebody's place at 7:30pm. (because everybody should be at home at 5:15pm latest) Everybody is kind of on time. Then it's a big circle of chairs, with coffee or tea or other beverages, in the middle are snacks or a pie.
Our gatherings start with a dinner, we also meet at 7:30pm (with always somebody late for around 10min) , but perhaps that is the earliest time everybody can get off from work. So we waited for a table at Causeway Bay for 15 min or so, sat down and eat and talk while we eat. There could be a drink afterwards, depending if it is a weekend or not. The rule is, we pretty much would not come back home before 10:30pm.
Their kids are running around and play with whatever. Summer it's the backyard with grass or plastic swimming pool that they are with, winter time its the skates and ice skating at the pond close by.
Our kids are pretty much full with their schedule with piano, dance, swimming and painting lessons. Not to mention tutorial classes. But our kids probably dont run just because it's fun to run and jump around.
I grew up here in Hong Kong, and I truly love this city. The fact that I married a Dutch and have visits in Holland taught me the ways to balance our lives as well.
Pic from http://hellotxt.com