Do you remember your grad night? I prefer not to be reminded of mine, but it’s that time of the year again and very soon, tuxedos and prom dresses will be a common sight about town as the graduating classes of 2007 commemorate their release from high school life. Parents may be nervous about the big night, hoping their babies will opt for the chaperoned dry after-grad cruise. But they really don’t have much to worry about. If they think North American kids can get out of control when left to their own devices, their nerves will be alleviated when they learn about the Russ.

In Norway, high school graduates are called Russ (pronounced “Roose” with a rolling ‘R’). As with some parts of Eastern Canada, students here go through thirteen years of school. By the time they graduate from high school, the majority are eighteen years old, the legal age for drinking and driving (not together of course). No matter the country, by the time May rolls around, graduates are positively itching for freedom.

Festivities begin on the 1st of May and culminate on the 17th, when the nation celebrates Constitution Day. For nearly three weeks, parents barely see their graduating teens and liquor store vendors wish they would see a little less of them. Saying that they party solidly for this period of time is an understatement. I’m not talking about getting a bunch of kids together to toss back a few while grinding to the latest Timberlake mix. I’m talking about plans that are months in the making. These teens work hard for their parties, and they party hard. Here is a breakdown of what happens when a student becomes a Russ:

The Wheels

Around January, roughly six or more friends band together to form a Russ group and empty out their piggy banks to purchase either a van or a bus. This isn’t just your regular ride though. It’s literally going to become their home come May so it has to be decked out accordingly. Usually dilapidated vans can be purchased for about 10,000 Kr (roughly $2,000 Cdn) and an additional fortune is needed to make the damn old thing work. Sometimes, old graduates post the sale of the previous year’s clunkers and to the parents’ dismay, these uninsured and uncertified vehicles live to see another graduation. They are repainted in the appropriate colours (described below) and marked with the school, group and year they now represent. Members, especially those that have a bus, then aggressively canvas the local businesses for sponsorships to cover all the expenses they are about to incur. Massive concert stereo systems are mounted on top of buses, the maintenance fees of which can often go through the roof. On average, students cough up about four grand each to cover parties and clothes alone. Vehicles can run from a couple of grand to several hundred thousand dollars. This may sound steep but major corporations are very willing to sponsor in exchange for advertising on buses that will be driven throughout the city and potentially in the major Constitution Day parade amidst throngs of onlookers.

The Threads

Forget the ball gowns and the tails. The Russ have comfort in mind. There are three categories of traditional attire.

1. The coverall, of the variety an auto mechanic would wear
2. The overalls that carpenters are normally known to sport and
3. Pants and a jacket

Not surprisingly, no one opts for the latter and overalls are the most popular choice, paired with class-specific custom hoodies similar to the ones available in North American high schools. Imagine the tens of thousands of teenagers who need to buy these outfits and you won’t be surprised to learn that there are shops that only cater to and profit from these needs.

Once a type of clothing is selected, the colour comes next:

Blue clad students represent those that are finance focused, so those are the ones that will go on to business school after graduation.

Black tells you that the wearer is in some kind of trade. It is the most unusual of the three and can represent a photographer, an electrician (a field to which a student can acquire a certification for upon graduation), a car mechanic, or anyone in the arts.

Red is the most commonly sighted and encompass all fields that remain. It is the most generic of the lot.

The overalls are usually branded with the name of the wearer down one leg in huge white letters and the school name or ‘Russ 2007’ down the other leg. Decals of an enormous variety are ironed on to finish off the rest of the pant. Hand prints seem to be a very popular choice and can often be found on many of the girls’ backsides. The more daring ones go as far as to suggestively place them in the crotch area. Norwegian flags are also starting to decorate the overalls that come with can opener pockets, cell phone pockets and pockets to fit beer cans or beer bottles. For seventeen days these kids don’t take them off so they have to be made to live in. In fact, if they clean their suits at any time during this period, their classmates will cut one of the pant legs off as punishment. A Russ uniform becomes a sacred memento as everyone will have signed it by the end of the celebrations. A belt around the waist is also designed so that the top can fold down oh so fashionably. On the rare occasion, you can also see someone carrying a bamboo stick and a whistle which they use to draw attention. They often sit on the roof of their home on wheels and whack it with the stick as they blow the whistle at unsuspecting passersby.

The Business Cards

If you’re in Norway during the first two weeks of May, you’ll start to notice little kids running to every Russ they see and asking for their “Russ Kort” (Russ Card). It’s become a game for the youngsters to collect as many different Russ cards as possible. These are professionally printed and display the image and name of the owner, along with any messages or quotes they wish to share with the world. The original purpose of the cards was to trade them with other graduating students so they could keep in touch once the school year was over but over time, that tradition has changed somewhat and students now print very random messages.

The Partying

This starts on day one of course. May 1st is when the big launch happens. Everyone puts on their outfit for the first time and show off the vans and buses that they’ve spent months decorating. They all convene for a huge rave party in Oslo, in an area called Tryvann, which is close to Holmenkollen (where the Olympic ski jump is). This location is strategically chosen because it’s a relatively secluded area where no residents will be disturbed by the hundreds of speakers that blast through the night. The party is infamous for the amount of alcohol that flows and the booze induced promiscuity that follows. Think Woodstock and you’ve just about got it right.

It may sound like the Russ get to take some time off for all the fun but that’s not the case. Classes are still in session and students are still expected to wake up early every morning and stumble their way to school. That means having to retain information and take exams with incredible hangovers. They don’t get sent home until they become too disorderly or are so drunk they can’t even walk.

Nope, the teachers don’t condone it, but the alternative is not having kids come to school at all. Students have been known to retaliate by boycotting classes or camping outside teachers’ houses and partying. Teachers tolerate it because they themselves took part in this ritual many years back. If anything, their parties were even worse and they know it would be hypocritical to stop a tradition that dates back nearly a century.

The government played with the idea of banning Russ celebrations in 1997 but almost immediately realized the futility of the initiative. Imagine trying to tell people to stop driving. Nothing happened. No one acknowledged it. Parliament asked the police to arrest anyone sporting the Russ uniform. They ignored it. Schools were asked to send Russ home and the lessons continued. No one was supposed to allow the Russ to rent places to hold parties but the music still blasted. The government gave up.

What some politicians are trying to change however, is when final exams are set to take place. In the 1920s, the major celebration was on the 17th because the graduating exams were given the week before and the students had to wait three weeks for their oral exams. Since then, the end of the school year has extended to June and exams are scheduled for the week after the national holiday. Since nothing can be done to tone down the festivities, MPs are trying to minimize the amount of damage done to school grades. Some students do drop out during this two week period but on the whole, the year ends without academic incidence and all the students go on to post secondary education.

The Headgear

Custom made silk caps with one long black string (tail) that hangs out from the top are handed out and worn on the final day. On the night of the 17th, all the graduating students assemble and ‘baptize’ one another. Each person is called up individually, given a hat, and the crowd is asked what that Russ should be called. The consensus is ceremoniously written on the brim of the hat in white.

By the 17th, everyone has a list of things that they have accomplished since becoming a Russ. Feats of dumbassness ticked off from a list put together by the National, Regional and Local Boards of Russ. Each task is represented by a type of knot or tie on the string or by attaching something to it. Here are some examples:

* A single knot on your tail means you stayed up for one night (24 hrs)
* A bow means you stayed up for 72 hrs
* A beer cap means you drank a case of beer in 24 hours (that’s one beer every hour)
* A Seimen (a popular Norwegian soft candy) means you kissed a police officer in uniform
* A small bell hanging off your tail means you answered every question in a lecture Jeopardy style

For more examples, click here.

These hats are shown off at the grand finale party that begins at midnight and some time in the middle of the night, all the Russ drive to their teacher’s houses, crank up the music and terrorize them one last time.

Still worried about the prom?