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jackLast night I went hashing.
What's that?
It's sort of like drinking beer, except the beer is a long way away.
Oh no! How do you get to the beer?
You run from where you are, to where the beer is.
Directly?
No, you follow a convoluted trail.
Is it very convoluted?
Only a little bit. If you're not sure how it works, you can normally just follow everyone else.
But in principle, how does it work?
You look for little chalk marks or bits of flour and follow them. Every so often, there's a false trail, but it's designed to be obvious after a couple of marks and easy to get back to the real trail. Ideally the fast runners check everything out, and by the time they're on the right track, the slow runners just follow them. And then there's beer.
Wait, can't I just go straight to where the beer is
No.
Really?
OK, yes. But that's not hashing, that's just drinking. And breaking and entering, if you drink the hash's beer.
What if I don't like beer?
The extent to which you have to participate in the culture of drinking beer varies, but you don't have to actually drink beer (especially if there's a medical or safety reason).
Can I just turn up and run and chat to people and go home before the beer and/or before the group bonding stuff
Yes.
Really? Without someone saying "that's not hashing, that's just running"?
Yes.
What if I can't run very fast?
I can barely run 5k in 40 minutes on a treadmill, and I was at the back, alternating jogging and walking, but didn't feel like I was completely left behind by the other stragglers. If you're slower than that, it probably wouldn't be fun, but if you're faster than that it should be easy.
What if I don't like beer OR running
You probably won't enjoy hashing.
So... I just sort of turn up and follow everyone until I find some beer?
More or less. Some hashes you just turn up, others you pay a couple of quid towards the supplies[1].
Does it have weird traditions and things?
Yes, though not more so than any other random Cambridge society.
[1] ie. Beer.
What's that?
It's sort of like drinking beer, except the beer is a long way away.
Oh no! How do you get to the beer?
You run from where you are, to where the beer is.
Directly?
No, you follow a convoluted trail.
Is it very convoluted?
Only a little bit. If you're not sure how it works, you can normally just follow everyone else.
But in principle, how does it work?
You look for little chalk marks or bits of flour and follow them. Every so often, there's a false trail, but it's designed to be obvious after a couple of marks and easy to get back to the real trail. Ideally the fast runners check everything out, and by the time they're on the right track, the slow runners just follow them. And then there's beer.
Wait, can't I just go straight to where the beer is
No.
Really?
OK, yes. But that's not hashing, that's just drinking. And breaking and entering, if you drink the hash's beer.
What if I don't like beer?
The extent to which you have to participate in the culture of drinking beer varies, but you don't have to actually drink beer (especially if there's a medical or safety reason).
Can I just turn up and run and chat to people and go home before the beer and/or before the group bonding stuff
Yes.
Really? Without someone saying "that's not hashing, that's just running"?
Yes.
What if I can't run very fast?
I can barely run 5k in 40 minutes on a treadmill, and I was at the back, alternating jogging and walking, but didn't feel like I was completely left behind by the other stragglers. If you're slower than that, it probably wouldn't be fun, but if you're faster than that it should be easy.
What if I don't like beer OR running
You probably won't enjoy hashing.
So... I just sort of turn up and follow everyone until I find some beer?
More or less. Some hashes you just turn up, others you pay a couple of quid towards the supplies[1].
Does it have weird traditions and things?
Yes, though not more so than any other random Cambridge society.
[1] ie. Beer.