Crazyness

They are spending nights in trees or roundabouts, running naked over brigdes, kissing teachers or policemen, crawling through supermarkeds, asking random people for condoms or occupy playgrounds, usually accompanied by lots of alcohol and noise. Why? To get a knot or a token in the string of a red cap! They are called "russ", norwegian high school students celebrating their freedom after 13 years of school. Easy to spot in coloured overalls, (mostly red, some blue and black) drive matching cars or buses, and they hand out cards with photos and quotes to friends, familiy and children who collect them. This is the BIG THING every high school student has been waiting for and dreaming about for years! A blank cheque to go nuts for three weeks. One knot for every sleepless night (at that age apparently still seen as a kind of accomplishment;) ) The official knot rules which are revised every year, have been a favorite topic among teachers, parents and authorities for weeks, though some of them are charming and harmless, some can be quite dangerous, even illegal or at least not so very nice.

At this time of the year the "russ" are everywhere in the city,- tonight also in my bathtube, washing out beer in the hair after a russ-baptism. This ceremony is the starting gun to get crazy for a continuous party, ending - for most of the participants completely exhausted - on the national day, 17th of May. It's a hard life;) I must admit that I am looking forward to that day this year.