Russefeiring

In Norway there is an interesting "right of passage" that the high schoolers go through as their graduation ceremony. Part of me wishes that I had studied abroad here as a high school student instead of a college student (parts of russefeiring sound awful but most just sounds fun).

The kids that do this are called Russ ('roos') and as of a few days ago they're all running around town wearing awesome overalls & caps (color coded), driving buses and constantly partying, it's sometime referred to as: "truekersfylla" (the three week binge). The other night I got my first taste of what it means being an adult during this time. I was kept awake several hours listening to a party bus down the street! I've been intrigued by this tradition so I've done a bit of research into it since I see tons of these kids all over. It's very distinct from any other cultures graduation ceremony because of all the sex, alcohol, loud music and anything else.

First of all, it starts on April 26 and goes until May 17 (Norwegian Constitution Day).

Overalls:

The different colored overalls usually refers to your area of study but can also be determined by your school or area. The overalls are supposed to be worn everyday (without washing) until the end of russefeiring.

Red- general studies/math/physics/biology/history/literature/media/art/music/athletics (most common as I said before)

Black- vocational school

Blue- business administration

Green- agriculture (also can be orange - I haven't seen any of this in Oslo, probably because it's a city)

White- athletics/healthcare in some areas, and sometimes Christian Russ who choose not to drink

Ståkuka:

"noisy week" is the last week in April and there's a different theme for every day. Reminds me of Spirit Week back home:

Change gender day

Army day (includes water balloon & squirt gun fights vs other schools at the school & around town)

Pajama day

Hero day

Emo day

Business day

Russknuter / Knots:

The russ can earn knots and/or objects signaling different tasks or dares they've completed. From what I've read the group of knots seem to be later attached to their caps they get. This tends to be were Russ gets it's bad reputation from. Some things are illegal while others are just silly pranks. Some groups prefer not to join in and will form their own groups to hang out with and make they're own, all legal knots to earn, the biggest group is the Christian Russ. I found a list online of some tasks they may do to earn their knots. (The drinking age for beer & wine is 18 and most Russ are 18)

• Spending a night in a tree (earn a stick)
• Eating a Big Mac in 2 bites (earn a piece of the wrapping)
• Drinking a bottle of wine in 20 mins (earn cork)
• Crawling through super market while barking and biting customer's leg (earn dog biscuit)
• Spending a school day crawling on hands/knees (earns toy shoe)
• Spending the entire russ period sober (earn fizzy drink cork)
• Drinking 24 beers/24 hours (girls) 12hrs (boys)
• Have sex in the woods
• Have sex with 17 different people from May 1-17
• Put a for sale sign on Police Car
• Spending the night at a teachers house & making him/her breakfast - without being seen
• Go for a swim before May 1 (it's really cold here!)
• Ask random people in a mall if they can lend you a condom & get the condom
• Break up with a random 16 yr old in public
• Run over a local bridge or from school to center naked
• Sit on a round about with a sign that says "We'll drink if you honk"
• Host an aerobic class at the local pub and get at least 10 people to join in

Buses:

In the 90's a rule was formed that only non-russ participants could drive the russ vehicles to cut down on drinking & driving. In rich places (like Oslo) the students tend to invest in buses instead of cars or vans as in other areas. The vehicle is then painted the appropriate russ color and decorated in some way. The also put in crazy speaker systems and sometimes refurbish the inside to have a bar or beds. According to Wikipedia they can cost up to 2-6 thousand US dollars per person, and some a total of $400,000. 

Cards:

They make fake business cards with their picture and a quote. They tend to be lewd, funny and offensive. The russ trade with each other and hand them out to children. Some kids consider it an important activity and it ends May 17. Because of the offensive nature many parents were getting upset when their kids got them, so now many students make two sets, one for their friends and one for children.

May 17th:

This is the final day of russefeiring  and there is a ceremony where they recieve they're caps. They recieve a christening and receive a name from classmates that is then written on their cap. The finale of russefeiring is joining the national day parade in full outfit of overalls + cap

Video:

There is a reality TV show in Norway about Americans who come to Norway and do a bunch of tasks, if you win you get to meet your Norwegian family and learn about your heritage. One of the episodes has them competing in a russefering (some of them are in their 40's!)