Three Danes share how they rediscover joy after their holidays

Many Danes are returning to work this week, and three of them told DR how they are overcoming the difficulty of getting back into their routines after the holidays.

For Jens Dissing, a mechanical engineer at Dansk Skalform, an iron foundry in Aars, the early alarm was the hardest part of returning to work. His alarm rang at 5.40am after three weeks of holiday, including a trip to Paris.

Despite that, Dissing had been looking forward to returning. He had missed the routines and daily conversations with his colleagues.

“I had a really good holiday and managed to do what I wanted. But during the last week or so, I also felt like getting something done again. You do not quite get that satisfaction on holiday,” he said.

Helle Harkjaer, owner of Frisørhuset Svenstrup hair salon, had not missed colleagues because she does not have any at the salon. Instead, she found the pleasure of returning to work in the customers she served.

She cut the hair of 13 or 14 customers and enjoyed listening to their stories. Harkjaer also prefers not to take one long holiday, so she divides her time off into several periods.

“I will work hard for the next 14 days, and then I will take another week off. I get a little restless if I spend too many weeks at home at a time,” she said.

Jesper Nielsen, an assistant foreman at Jens Buus Biler in Aars, said one of the benefits of returning was seeing what his colleagues had accomplished while he was away and finding out what was planned for the coming days.

The workshop has made a quiet start after the holiday and is still operating at half capacity. Nielsen is looking forward to returning to full speed next week, when the staff will be complete and, hopefully, more cars will be on the lifts.