And Ithaca worries about Senior Week ?

RUSS is for Norwegian high school student a month-long celebration of the end of 13 years of school. It began in the last week or so and ends May 17, which is Norway Day, (akin to our July 4.) The following week the students return to school to take their final exams – after a month long party! May 1, Labor Day, another Norwegian holiday, is when the students begin to add Russ knots to their caps denoting what they’ve done from Hallowe’en style pranks to binge drinking and more. Depending on their area of study, students dress in red or blue overalls which they’ve adorned with personal designs (Mac would love that.) I’ve heard from some parents that the practice is declining and others that it is getting worse.

Monday, a number of RUSS students were congregating around Stavanger’s harbor gaping (as were the adults) at the Navigator of the Seas, a 1020 foot long, 138,000 ton cruise ship visiting Stavanger for the day. When I first spotted RUSS girls in Bergen I thought they were members of a ski or football team. Now I know differently.