The Hashers

My favorite bar in Itaewon has really good food and even better people. Being a western style pub, everyone there speaks English, and most have great stories. I've met a Purdue grad who is an intelligence officer. We did not discuss his work, but his ability to make connections from different parts of the conversation was really impressive. I actually respect a Purdue grad? Go figure. I have also met a Korean raised in the States, lost his business in a divorce, and now teaches English in Seoul. He has become sort of my Korean mentor teaching me the ways of Korean culture/ladies. There is also the owner who has traveled extensively throughout Asia and could/should write a couple of books about his experiences. And there is a married couple who are both from Texas but met in Korea. Their cultural knowledge (especially literature) pretty much guarantees that I will be drinking whenever we play drinking games. They also play Euchre. One night we sat outside a 24 hour store a few blocks from my apartment playing Euchre until one in the morning. Life is truly amazing.

Of course, there are the more eccentric encounters like the guys who stage Sesame Street productions throughout Asia, but today's post will focus on the Hash House Harriers. I had never heard of 'Hashers' until one night at the pub when about twenty people all wearing similar shirts showed up with their hiking gear. After the I-haven't-seen-you-in-over-a-month type hugs were exchanged, they dumped their back packs in a corner of the bar and took off. About an hour later they returned. All of them were very sweaty and ordered water. Eventually, they began to drink alcohol which of course led to singing.

Okay, wikipedia has the following definition for Hash House Harriers:

The Hash House Harriers (abbreviated to HHH, H3, or referred to simply as Hashing) is an international group of non-competitive running, social and drinking clubs. An event organized by a club is known as a Hash or Hash Run, with participants calling themselves Hashers, or, Hares and Hounds.

British officers stationed in Kuala Lumpur in the late 30's would meet on Monday's to rid themselves of the weekend excesses by running. This run would make them thirsty. So, they quenched their thirst with beer. This sounds like a vicious cycle to me, but who am I to judge?

Today's Hashers are an interesting lot. From their website:

"Hashing is a state of mind- a friendship of kindred spirits joined together for the sole purpose of reliving their childhood or fraternity days, releasing the tensions of everyday life, and generally, acting a fool amongst others who will not judge you or measure you by anything more than your sense of humor."


Stray Dog

From my understanding, the run is a paper chase with a 'hare' leaving a trail for the 'hounds' to follow. I would think such a chase would be difficult in downtown Seoul but that might be part of the fun. They also like to dress up in some pretty elaborate costumes.

When the owner of the bar was explaining to us that Hashers do pub crawls with running, the guy next to me summed up my thoughts pretty well. "Sounds like fun... except for the running part." The Hasher shown above decided to forego the chase and just drink. The costume is custom made costing a pretty penny and taking about 20 minutes to put on.

As the rest of the group returned from their run, the bar began to smell like a gym. It is hot and humid here. That doesn't seem to bother the Hashers though. Soon they were singing. "I'd rather _____ than run that shitty trail." Each person takes a turn filling in the blank. Then the whole group sings, "than run that shitty trail." 

"I'd rather ...get beat up by a wookie...". Oh yeah, he went there.

"than run that shitty trail."

Then the women break out into a rousing rendition of, "I love ___ (insert part of a male's anatomy). They come in all shapes and sizes." Often when the song finishes, the singers chug and then tip the glass over above their head. Really, they do.

But it is not all fun and games. "Point of order! Point of order! Tomorrow at 14:00 we are running at ...". Sorry, I can't remember the name of the course.

"Point of order. Point of order. Tomorrow we are running at 10:00 also then drinking at my house."

Alright, so the schedule for Saturday is to run at 10 a.m., drink, then run at 2 p.m. I was reminded of something my Grandpa Baker once told me. "When it comes to drinking and driving,... just drink." I think the same is true for drinking and running.