An Incredibly Boring Day

The weather was most unpredictable today so we scratched our plans to go for another hike (my body is thankful for that). Instead, we cleaned house. Kaleb had arranged a sleepover with a friend for tonight so I told him we wouldn’t take him there until his room was clean. It took him nearly all day to clean it, but it was pretty impressive by day’s end. I used the time to clean my desk, which tends to get overrun with paperwork and little bits of this and that. And Kory used the bulk of his day changing out the tires on my new/used bike. He was concerned I’d have a blowout sometime soon, so he solved that problem. He likes to solve problems.

Our big outing today was going to the mall at Moa to buy some groceries. We ran into a few people Kory is related to so it almost felt like it was a social outing, not an errand. I also ran into a woman that used to go to my Norwegian class – she got a job stocking produce at the supermarket. She doesn’t like the job so much but she said it’s better than going to class. The mall was packed today. Since all the stores were closed yesterday and will be again tomorrow – there was a run on groceries. We were there around 2pm and many of the shelves were already empty. I guess it also has to do with the fact it’s Confirmation time so many people are having parties this weekend, but it was almost scary looking. There wasn’t a loaf of bread in sight, and an entire aisle of meats was just empty. The grocery store must have been a madhouse when the doors opened today. I’m still not used to NOT being able to buy what I want when I go to the store to buy it. It always catches me by surprise that some basic item like bread or eggs or milk might actually not be there when I go. I’m such a spoiled American.

We saw a lot of “Russ” (pronounced Roose) kids at the mall today. Russ is defined in the dictionary as “sixth former” so I have no idea what it really means, but when I looked up “sixth former” it said something about studies at the “videregaaendeskole,” which is what they call high school. I do know that starting May 1st every year, all the kids that are going to complete “high school” begin their shenanigans. High schools here are more like trade school/community college type things. Kids are only required to attend school for ten years so the last three years are optional. If they go, they have to pick a specific course of study and when they are done, they are certified in some trade, or prepared academically for further study in a field if it requires advanced education. So all these kids we would call soon “graduates” are called “Russ.” And for some reason, after May 1st, they all wear bright red overalls everyday for the last six weeks of school. The overalls have all kinds of things printed on them – weird sayings, the Norwegian flag, handprints… it’s all very artsy. I’m not sure if they order them that way or customize them themselves, but they are pretty darn proud they are finishing up school and they want to be noticed, that’s for sure. Also, a lot of Russ kids go together and buy bright red vans and they all paint their names on the sides of them, along with other slogans and symbols, and they drive them around town honking their horns and drawing attention to themselves. These vans get passed down from one graduating class to another and I think there is a special permit they must get just for these six weeks because I see those vans parked behind buildings the rest of the year and no one drives them anywhere – but now they are out on the roads enforce. The local newspaper had an article on the number of traffic tickets issued to Russ vans the first night of Russ. Russ students also design bright red business cards they get printed up with their picture on it (usually with some corny pose), their personal motto and contact information. Younger kids collect these Russ cards like my brothers used to collect baseball cards. Even Tante Kari has all her grandkids’ Russ cards stuck in the mirror in her entryway – so I’m not sure what’s up with that either, but it’s a long standing tradition here. The Russ kids pull pranks on each other and there is a lot of tolerance for the mischief they make. I’m not sure they break many laws but they do a lot of crazy things and have a lot of parties, that’s for sure. I guess it’s a time they all get to act out and be childish one last time before they enter the work force or go on to higher education. It’s a little different than in the U.S. as graduation itself is somewhat dignified and a more formal event, but here it’s quite the opposite, as they don’t even have a graduation ceremony.

After Kaleb left for his sleepover, Kory and I were incredibly bored as we couldn’t think of a thing to do. We will not be good empty-nesters, I’m afraid. Kory wanted to go to a movie but I didn’t want to spend the money. We now have one vacancy at our apartment building in Seattle and two more on the way. The economic crisis is finally hitting us. We may need to go home even earlier than expected if we don’t find some renters soon! Yikes.