What is normally an arena for circuit training, yoga, meditation, volleyball and football was transformed into a pulsating Halloween universe, filled with costumed kindergarten children and adults, and an unknown number of balloons.
The kindergarten children from Strauman turned out in force, and as if that wasn't enough, party-loving families from Gimsøy also found their way there – word of mouth is probably the reason. The event offered free coffee, cakes and bouncing opportunities for acrobats young and old!
Along one wall an impressive gymnastics landscape had been set up, including: two thick crash mats, a six-metre-long AirTrack, a springboard, vaulting horses, tubes to crawl through and more. Everything needed to challenge the sense of balance, the stamina, the fear of heights (and fate in general). The conditions were perfect for maximum activity levels and minimal friction at bedtime later that evening.
A costume gallery out of the ordinary
Imagination flourished, and cultural expression takes many forms. Wandering around on the floor were:
- police officers, witches, a bloodthirsty great white shark and a seemingly harmless Dracula
- Spider-Man, Batman and Super Mario
- a most peaceful moose far from its natural habitat
- Captain Sabertooth on good terms with both pirates and princesses
- a Pringles crisps tube that took its role as snack ambassador seriously
- The lady in red, whom Chris de Burgh can hardly forget
- a dancing lion from Saturday Night Fever
- Colonel Kurtz from Apocalypse Now. Several of the children immediately got the reference, as the book is apparently often read at bedtime.
Coffee, cakes and collective sugar rushes
Along the other wall stood the cake table – a robust, unofficial neighbourhood baking championship. Here there was chocolate cake and biscuits and bowls of sweets that never seemed to empty, even though the children did their best to prove otherwise.
The adults stuck to coffee, while the children worked systematically to raise their blood sugar to a responsible level, replenish their energy stores, maintain performance, prevent exhaustion and improve results.
Noise level well above the recommended limit
The general noise level in the gymnasium fairly early on passed what could be described as "polite conversation" and moved into "organised chaos". One parent was heard saying that the decibels were probably well above 80, and that the conditions mentioned in Section 4-4 of the Working Environment Act were probably not adequately safeguarded. (Formal measurements were admittedly not carried out, so the matter was not reported to the Labour Inspection Authority and is shelved for lack of evidence.)
Disco in the back room
For those who wanted a break from balloons and risky jumps, the adjacent room had been turned into its own dance floor. Here there was everything from American pop songs to rhythms with a more Eastern European flavour – accompanied by flashing lights and a smoke machine. The choreography was impeccable and full of enthusiasm, and not necessarily in time with the music. Some parents reported symptoms consistent with voluntary, sporadic vertigo – fortunately temporary.
Little monsters, big memories
As the evening drew to a close, the balloons and slices of cake were noticeably fewer. The costumes had begun to slip a little, the makeup was lightly marked by both juice and fructose, and several superheroes had begun to consider early retirement. What remained was a gymnasium slowly returning to its usual form, but there is little doubt that both young and old went home with tired legs, a bit of ringing in their ears and many good memories.