Tag: high school students

The kids with caps…time to make some noise!

DIANE IN DENMARK4 Comments

So the other day I told you about the Invasion of the kids with caps… Once they get the cap placed on their head, it doesn’t stop there. It’s time to celebrate. Big time.

It goes like this. Each High School class gets on to a truck. Which they have decorated with flowers, banners, Danish flags, etc, etc, etc. One of the most important things is the banner on the side of the truck. Which tells you which class and high school the students graduated from. And what the students will do if you wave to them or give them a toot from your car. (And, yes, everyone takes it in good spirit and toot, toot, toooooooots!) Along the lines of “1 Toot, we drink. 2 Toots, we finish the glass. 3 Toots, we’ll give you a flash.” And these Danes keep their promises…we saw several bare bottoms last year!

truck

And their parents/grannies/siblings/next-door-neighbours/the neighbour’s cat are on hand to give them a good send off.  Flags?  Check!  Beer?  Check!  Air horn?  Check! Loud speakers? Check! Ready for takeoff? Check! And where are they heading? On a loooooooong journey – they’ll stop at every student’s home for drinks and snacks. And – with about 25 students per class – that means that they’ll be driving around on the truck until the wee small hours of the next morning…

Alcohol, young kids and moving vehicles can be a dangerous cocktail. But the long arm of the Danish law are on hand to make sure that everything is all present and correct before take off.

At our local High Schools, there will be several trucks. Each playing different playlists. And that they play music for the entire duration of their trip around the area, usually 12 hours. Plus any passing cars or lorries will toot their horns and join in. Boom, boom. Toot, toot. Boom, boom! So it’s a very noisy afternoon and evening around these parts… Are you beginning to get the picture? Here’s a quick video I snapped of one of the trucks leaving the school (apologies for the shaky-hand) to give you a glimpse!

If you’re here in Denmark, you might want to sleep with your windows closed tonight (despite the tropical heatwave we are currently experiencing).  Because it will be the wee small hours of the next morning that these trucks finally grind to a halt, the tooting stops, the speakers are unplugged, everything is a bit blurry, it’s actually gone quite dark (despite the long Danish summer days), and we can all finally get to sleep!

Have a fabulous Friday and a wonderful weekend!

Diane 🙂

School's. Out. For. Ever. Toot, tooooot!

DIANE IN DENMARK5 Comments

The holidays are here.  The holidays are here!  The holidays ARE HERE!  Can you guess that we are excited? 😛  Yep, Friday was the last day of school for my kids.  It was a beautiful warm, sunny summer morning and we cycled over to school with a song in our heads, not a care in our hearts, bike baskets full of teacher gifts.  Now, please, indulge me here, because I couldn’t resist stopping at the aptly-named Sommervej (‘Summer Street’) to take a pic!  Oh, and the little red dot above the letter ‘j’ on the street sign isn’t a dot – it’s actually a ♥…  Remember my post, “I ‘heart’ Danish street signs!”? 

 

But, as usual, I digress!  Anyway, later that morning, just before noon, I was making my way back from the (fantastic Danish) library.  Yep, tootling along in my car, full of the joys of summer.  And then – wham – I drove right into a cortege of Danish high school students, waiting to be waved off.  I’ve told you about the students before (Danish) High School Musical (Trucks).  But this was amazing…  The road was literally blocked with the trucks, the students, their parents/grannies/siblings/next-door-neighbours/the neighbour’s cat.

So, naturally, I had to ditch my car and go take a closer look…

It was – selvfølgelig – a few minutes to noon and the trucks were just about to depart on their loooooooong journey.  (They will stop at every student’s home for drinks and snacks.  And – with about 25 students per class – that means that they’ll be driving around on the truck until the wee small hours of the next morning…)

Even though there was actually a Danish policeman (Oh dear – am I showing my age?  Should I be saying the more politically correct ‘police officer’?) on hand, inspecting the trucks, it was total mayhem.  Fantastic! 🙂

Are we ready to rock’n’roll?

Flags?  Check!  Beer?  Check!  Air horn?  Check!

Even I – the girl at the party who always turns up the speakers to 11 – thought it was extra loud this year!  Remember that *every* truck has speakers and is playing different playlists. And that they play music for the entire duration of their trip around the area, usually 12 hours.  Plus any passing cars or lorries will toot their horns and join in.  Boom, boom. Toot, toot.  Boom, boom!  So it’s a very noisy afternoon and evening around these parts…  Are you beginning to get the picture?  Here’s a quick video I snapped of one of the trucks leaving the school (apologies for the shaky-hand) to give you a glimpse!

All aboard and ready for the summer holidays?  Toot, tooooot!

Diane 🙂

(Danish) High School Musical (Trucks)

DIANE IN DENMARK

If there’s one thing that signals the start of the (6 week) Danish summer school holidays for me, it’s the sound of blaring music, car horns, singing and cheering.  Danish high school kids are graduating this week and (surely you know what’s coming next?) there’s a quaint Danish tradition attached! 😉

After the graduates are sent off with an 8am singsong (dimission) in the school hall, they head outside and start decorating trucks…

Lots of greenery and the all-important Danish flags…

I think we need more balloons over here, please!

And why is it that it’s always the girls who get left to doing the decorating? Hmm… (And, yes, yes, young Danish girls are all very tall and skinny.)

One of the most important things is the banner on the side of the truck. Which tells you which class and high school the students graduated from.  And what the students will do if you wave to them or give them a toot from your car.  The banner on the truck above reads “1 Toot, we drink. 2 Toots, we finish the glass. 3 Toots, we’ll give you a flash.”  And these Danes keep their promises…we saw several bare bottoms last year! 

Once the trucks are decorated and the beer crates are loaded on board, it’s time for the graduates to climb aboard (there’s a little ladder at the back) and drive around the neighbourhood or into the city.  Not for an hour.  Not for the whole morning.  For the whole day. Singing and waving at passers by and motorists.  Who are only too glad to wave back and toot.  Moi included.  In fact, sometimes I actually follow the trucks around for a bit – it’s not often you get the chance to toot until your heart’s content…

The trucks make stops at each student’s house along the way, where proud parents/family/friends/neighbours are waiting with (yes, more and more) flags.  A toilet stop and a bite to eat…

And more drinks…

And so on and so forth until it’s the wee small hours of the next morning, the trucks finally grind to a halt, the tooting stops, the speakers are unplugged, everything is a bit blurry and we can all finally get to sleep!

Tillykke, tillykke!

Diane 🙂