Fourth Finish of 2012 & Danish and Norwegian Graduation Traditions

My fourth finish so far for 2012 is this very old WIP (work in progress) project.  The summer before I was a senior in College I was lucky enough to get to study abroad for two months with the Danish Institute for Study Abroad (DIS).  The program was very challenging (I was one of very few undergrads) and it was the first time I had ever been outside of the US or Canda all by myself since I was the first person at my college to try out this program.  I could go on and on about the experience and I might later in this blog.

While in Copenhagen one day I discovered a hobby shop and this adorable project somehow wound up coming home with me!  It is a Permin of Copenhagen design that is unnamed but I call it Danish Owl Bell Pull.  The Price tag shows the price as 154 Danish Kroner which at the time seemed expensive but with the exchange rate at that time it came in at about $20 for the complete kit. 

I bought this kit because as I'm sure you can tell by my posts I LOVE OWLS!!  And also it features the owl wearing a Danish Graduation Cap.  As I was in Denmark during the summer I kept seeing so many young people wearing these sailor type hats everywhere.  I figured that it must be something important one day when I was getting on my bus and the driver looked like he was saying something complimentary to a girl and boy wearing them.  I had to know what was the significance so I asked my host-family Dad about it and he gave the me details.  Basically in Denmark the equivalent of High School in the US is very, very difficult and after you pass your exams you receive the cap as a sign of your major achievement.  Also students ride around town on trucks on the way to parties at all of their friends houses to celebrate.  So I bought this kit to remind me of a bit of the Danish culture I saw first hand while there.

I am notorious for starting a project and then leaving it for awhile or a long while as in this one.  I bought it in 2002 and probably started it a year later.  It was left as a WIP until I found it and started working on it sometime last winter.  This is how far I had gotten on it before I picked it up on September 19th and started the final steps to complete it.  On my version I changed the date from my High School Graduation like the cap is intended to my College Graduation Date since I studied in Copenhagen in College.  Also I chose the red band on the cap purely to add some more color to the design.

The Danish Cap reminds me a bit of the whole "RUSS" experience (pronounced roose) in Norway.  Before "High School" students take their final exams they celebrate in many ways for the three weeks before they take the tests.  They wear red or blue overalls that show their field of study for the entire time, are asked to do dares, have cards made with jokes or funny quotes that children like to collect, and do some big partying.  The culmination is on May 17th Norwegian Independence Day where the busses that these kids travel on for the time park on the main streets in Oslo shutting them down and one last big party takes place in the streets.  Here are a few of the busses I saw last year.

Here you can see a bit better the RUSS overalls that the students wear.

I love learning about other cultures and their rite of passage opportunities.  I hope you enjoy seeing my finished project and some photos of my experience in Oslo. 

 Also I am very please with having so many finishes this year.  That was one of the reasons why I decided to start this blog so that I would have some peer pressure to finish up my projects...thank you for your support!