There’s a bus and car depot not too far from where I live. Some years back (in 2007 to be precise), I saw there was a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles themed bus parked there, presumably to be scrapped or sold. So naturally, I went to take a few pictures.
The bus is a so-called russebuss. It’s a strange Norwegian tradition where graduating high schoolers all chip in to get a party bus, getting it decorated to fit some particular theme. The russ tradition also includes wearing specific outfits (the colours are decided by what you’re studying), getting badges (similar to boy/girl scouts, except revolving around silly and vulgar things like spending the night in a roundabout or streaking), and getting together to party and play loud obnoxious party music. You can read more about it here.
I was never really a russ myself, not feeling comfortable in the teenage party miljø. Plus, it seemed like a bit of waste of money. Though I did idly speculate in getting a party hearse instead, maybe together with some other introverted counter-culture friends.
Anyway. This bus looks (or looked, as the case might be) pretty neat. Not all of my pictures are great, in part due to how the bus was parked and the lighting at the time. But they should give a good idea of what the bus looked like.
Note that the bus reads Teenage Hero Tørtels. The tørtels part is the common Norwegian phonetic pronunciation of the turtles; I believe the show aired as Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles on Norwegian and Swedish television (read more here); and I guess they just didn’t have room for the mutant part on the sign. It also reads årets buss ’07, which translates to bus of the year ’07. So presumably it won an award or two in 2007 at one of the larger russe-gatherings.
Enjoy!
