A Norwegian in America

Just as an introduction, I am from Norway. Although I am half American and was born in Houston, I am Norwegian. Lived there on and off til I was 5, then moved back when I was 8 and have lived there ever since. To help you get a feel for Norway, it is part of Scandinavia, along with Sweden and Denmark. Along with free healthcare, increased average lifespan, better standard of life, unnecessary taxes, and expensive cost of living, Norway has some unique traditions. One of these is to wear the national costume on May 17th, Norwegian Independence Day. Everyone goes into town to watch the parade, wave the Norwegian flag, and eat ice cream.

17. mai: Norwegian Independence Day

17. mai by Linn Williams is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

An other tradition in Norway is that for a month during Spring, starting around mid April and ending May 17th, every senior wears either red or blue overalls. This, in Norwegian, is called Russ. It is basically a month long party. 

Russ Baptist

Russ Baptism by Linn Williams is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.




The initiation ceremony is the first day of Russ, and everyone gets beer poured over their head. This is called the baptism, and the "priest" gives everyone nicknames to write on their hats. There is a list of activities the Russ can do to get knots such as eating a bag of marshmallows in 5 minutes or running across a bridge naked. There are also organized events for Russ to attend and party. The one I attended was right by my house and was filled with concerts, people, lots and lots of music, and rides.  Coming from Norway, the States is very different. The legal drinking age is 21, compared to 18 in Norway, and there are a lot more police here. I will be documenting my transition from the Norwegian culture to the American culture, and you can read about it here.