My First Korean Hash Experience

No, no, it’s not what you think. Marijuana is actually extremely illegal here in Korea, so this is not the kind of hash I am referring to. The Hash I went on was an event on Thursday where I and a small group set out in an area of town following clues and markings to get to an end destination. The reason I was able to do this on a weekday was because May 5^th was a National holiday in Korea—Children’s Day. It’s a day for parents to spoil the kids and reward them for all of their hard work. Best of all—schools are closed!!

How it works?

The organizer of a Hash takes care of setting everything up. He will go out earlier in the day and set up the route. He will put Xs on the road with chalk and when you get three Xs in a row, it means you’re going in the right direction. When you only have two, you know you’re going the wrong way and must re-route. In areas where chalk won’t work (ie: the Mountains etc) flour is used as an identifier. The organizer often ‘misleads’ the group by setting up many options in different directions but only one direction with 3 Xs. It’s a great way to see the little nooks and crannies of an area that you wouldn’t normally see.

How it went?

When a friend of mine told me about this event, she told me of the one she did and how they went from bar to bar (getting drinks) and following directions to the end location. I thought of it as being similar to a pub crawl and so on Thursday, I came dressed in a cute outfit and flip flops. Well, this was no pub crawl! The organizer of this Hash took us up and into a mountain where I consistently stumbled over rocks and realized that I was not prepared for this type of activity. The look out at the top was rewarding however and made up for the few stubbed toes that I endured.

The way down the mountain was much easier than the way up and eventually we were walking over the city again… much easier to do in flip flops! The entire hike took us about three hours and we ended up at a local foreigners pub where we had dinner and drinks.

Final Impressions:

Overall, it was a great way to meet new people, see different parts of where I live and get some exercise. I’m hoping to do it again sometime soon.