Russ

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Yeah... it's that time of year. Russ. To my understanding, it's a traditional celebration where students in their last year of high school take a few weeks in May typically May 1-17 (but they can get an early start in April) and complete a series of pranks and tasks to earn knots on a hat which completes their overalls outfit. The pranks can range from the innocent like eating breakfast or spending the night in a roundabout to the not so innocent like drinking games and um... well, other things. From what I do know about it, I don't think I feel too comfortable with young people (well, anyone for that matter) acting reckless and senseless.

Trying on my husband's old Russ outfit. 
A typical Russ picture, red van and all.
From: http://no.gosupermodel.com/frontpage/news.jsp?news_id=3021
Recently I've been told about a day where the girls were supposed to come to school wearing a mustache.  If they weren't wearing a drawn on mustache they'd be chased and squirted with a water gun. Another task  was crawling over a bridge. My husband sometimes talks about his alcohol abstinence and told me when he was a Russ, he received a knot for not drinking alcohol.

Red is the most popular color of overalls, but the color depends on the type of school the student attends. Red is a general studies school and blue would be economics and business, but there are other lesser known colors like green, black and white.

However, Russ will end shortly before exams and on May 17th, Norway's National Day where they can be seen in local school parades.

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