High school graduates in Norway throw epic party скачать в хорошем качестве

High school graduates in Norway throw epic party

(12 May 2017) They compete to trick out the flashiest party buses, buy enough beer to level a biker club, and commission crude songs to soundtrack their graduation blowouts. And that's before they even take their exams. They are "the russ", teenagers on the verge of graduating from Norway's high schools and a tradition of rocking the rite of passage in their otherwise temperate country with a level of drunken revelry that tips the international scale. Dressed in red and blue overalls adorned with the Norwegian flag and matching emblems of school spirit, russ - short for the decadent senior celebrations called "russefeiring" - fill town streets in the day and party at night for a month each year leading up to Constitution Day on May 17. The biggest bash happens each year at Kongeparken, a theme park in the village of Algard, on the outskirts of oil-rich Stavanger. During a three-day festival - think California's famed Coachella transported from the desert to the snaking fjords by the icy North Sea - Norway's biggest music acts perform for 13,500 teens ready to rave at all costs. Here, professionally painted coaches and double-decker buses line up blasting specially commissioned music tracks from six-foot speakers, or park in rings rigged with shared lighting, sound systems and DJs to create mini outdoor dance stages. Driven around the country by professional drivers who can double their earnings taking a month-long sabbatical from their day jobs, the buses are less a method of transportation than discos on wheels. They often are kitted out with newly upholstered sleeping space for 20, laser lighting systems and speakers blasting bass so loud it makes your beer jump out of its glass. Each bus has its own rap and techno tracks, sometimes as many as five, that cost up to 100,000 NOK (12,000 US dollars) each, according to the students that use them. With the cost shared between 15 and 25 students, the most expensive buses can run up to 3 million NOK (350,000 US dollars). The standard budget is just north of 1 million NOK ($116,000), students said. The "russefeiring" tradition dates back to 1905, when Norway gained its independence from Sweden. But the revelry among the russ has ratcheted up in recent years. The craze for blingy buses began in the wealthiest parts of western Oslo around ten years ago, where the competition between schools and classmates is highest. But the fashion has begun to catch on in other parts of the country too. The partying starts when classes end in the middle of April and last until Norwegian National Day on May 17. Exams begin shortly afterwards. While older generations mostly tolerate the russ, the month-long tradition and its expense can cause tongues to cluck in unflashy, egalitarian Norway. The boastful and sometimes misogynistic lyrics in the music also have drawn some negative headlines. Most of the teens acknowledge the concerns, but ask for understanding. "I would say you only do this one time. You are only allowed one time, so do it right when you graduate because you never go back here. Never," said Eyoub Yemane, a 19-year-old russ from Stavanger. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...