i know i'm in the minority here but a few points...and if anything, i tell it like it is so i hope you're not offended.
1) a 2 week vacation is really long. i know a lot of my Indian friends would go to India and they all seemed to go for a month but that was simply absurd when it came to the success of a project. even 2 weeks is a really long time to be gone. even in big 4 consulting, if you have a major and important role, you really can't be away from the project for more than a few days or the project really does suffer. of course, if you're really low in the project hierarchy and you don't really do anything, then maybe the project won't suffer but if that's the case, you probably shouldn't be on the project anyway. i've never believed in getting more people on the project just to get more billable hours and money from the client...this is gouging the client and i've never done it.
i have never asked an employee to cancel a vacation once made. but many times i have asked that the employee shorten the vacation. if your friend's wedding in Japan is so important to you, then you should go to his wedding in Japan. but if his wedding is on a saturday, fly out on thursday night, go to the wedding on saturday, and fly back on sunday morning. your friend is probably going to leave for his honeymoon anyway and you'll only miss friday (sunday flights from japan arrive in the US on sunday).
think about it this way...if you were looking for some contractors to get an additional bedroom constructed in your house and you want to upgrade all of your bathrooms., would you pick the guy who says "i'm good but i'm going on vacation for 2 weeks because at my last contracts i worked really hard and so i deserve it?" you'd say "ba fangu!l", have fun on your vacation buddy....but i'm going with the guy who says he'll be here every day working like a slave from 7am-10pm until the project gets done.
2) of course you work in order to play. everyone does this. but there really is a time and a place for work and a time and a place for play. if you take a job with mckindsey or BCG, most of my friends live at work. they show up by 8am and they regularly don't leave until past 11pm. this isn't mon-fri...this is sun-sun...every single day of the week. it's hard to get a day off even if it's a weekend let alone take a vacation. the last time i was in korea, i called up a friend to try to get together for lunch or dinner. he basically said "sorry but things really are busy. we work through lunch and dinner every day and i don't get home until midnight. we can go grab a drink if you want to at that time" but i didn't feel like bothering him. if you asked for a 2 week vacation, they would laugh in your face and think you're joking. you don't take this kind of job if you want to have your own personal time. you work at mcdonald's if you want to show up to work late, take time off, etc.
3) the US is a free country. the employer is free to fire you at any time and you're free to leave. if you don't like the job and what your employers are telling you to do, leave....just like you did. i have absolutely no problem with an employee quitting or leaving...it is 100% their right to do so. but when i have to fire an employee because they just don't have the skills or the desire to do the work that i am paying them to do, all of a sudden, i'm the bad guy. when an employee leaves because they don't like the job, i'm the bad guy. i've had guys paid $150k/year leave because i wouldn't let them work from home for 3 days a week. i've had a $100k/year guy leave because he wanted to stay at home all day and not come to the office because "the servers are at the data center so i should work close to the data center"...unbelievable.
i've worked in big 4 consulting for over 8 years and i've been an engagement manager for some large clients. what do you think the client says when i tell them that we can't get the project done on time because one of the guys is going on vacation for 2 weeks....trust me when i tell you that the client does not care. consulting really isn't the right industry to be in if you want a lot of personal time (or if you refuse to travel btw).
RVD.