Hash House Harriers: The Cure for being an Outsider

Hash House Harriers

The cure for being an outsider

Courtesy of Kamini Devadass Channel NewsAsia 11-29-2017
Courtesy of WKYT News Staff WKYT 17-08-2017

Courtesy of New York Times 08-25-2017
Courtesy of Rowan Schindler The Gympie Times 10-19-2017

Courtesy of Jess Swanson Broward Palm Beach New Times 08-29-2017
Courtesy of Bradley J. Fikes The San Diego Union-Tribune 19-06-2016

Courtesy of Jeanette Wang South China Morning Post 11-01-2016

Joining a local sports team...

Expat Judith Waller moved from the United
Kingdom to Switzerland and immediately
joined a local ice hockey team to make some
local friends. Playing sports is a social
interaction; friends are easily made, due to a
common interest. Joining a local sports club
seems like an easy way to integrate as an
expat.

Judith Waller moved from
the UK to Switzerland

Courtesy of @Wearexpats, the
rotating curator twitter-account of
the Expatriate Archive Centre

Tweet by rotating curator Judith Waller

Courtesy of @Wearexpats

...is not always the solution

But as an expat, you will always have a different background than your fellow
countrymen. For a lot of expats, it feels like you neither belong in the country
you moved to, nor the country you are from. ‘Expat’ goes beyond borders,
nationalities and identities. Joining a local sports club is no guaranteed cure
for feeling like an outsider in a new country.

Rotating curator Matthew Smith tweets about his ties to his birth-country and ‘belonging’

Courtesy of @Wearexpats

Expat sports teams...

Expats often form social groups with other expats, because it is very difficult
to penetrate already existing social groups. It is easier to make friends with
people who share the same experience of moving abroad; people that also feel
like an outsider. That is why expat sports clubs are so popular. In Amsterdam
there is an entire web page for ‘Expat sports groups & clubs in Amsterdam’.

Judith Waller sees fellow expats hang around with mostly other expats

Courtesy of @Wearexpats

...or a sport for expats?

One of these expat sports clubs is the Amsterdam Amsterdam Hash House
Hash House Harriers (Amsterdam H3), one of the Harriers’ logo.
many H3 clubs in the world. ‘Hashing’ is a welcoming
sport in which worldwide mostly expats and travellers Courtesy of Amsterdam Hash
partake. When moving abroad, one could easily join a House Harriers website. Harrier.nl
local H3 and feel at home. But what makes hashing
different from other sports? And could hashing be a
cure for the feeling of being an outsider many expats
experience?

Hash History

Kuala Lumpur, 1938. A group of The original ‘Hash House’
British colonial officers and other
expats are bored and want to do Kuala Lumpur, 1938
something with their spare time. Courtesy of press kit at Harrier.net
They came up with the idea to go
on a weekly run, to get rid of the
excesses of the weekend before.
They called their clubhouse the
‘Hash House’, because everyday
the same ‘hash’ was served there
for dinner.

To make the run a little bit more exciting, the expats let a so called ‘hare’ set
out a trail beforehand. The runners had to follow this trail, and called
themselves the harriers. The game was based on the old game of Paper
Chase or Hare and Hounds. The running was healthy, but also meant to
create a good thirst for some beverages afterwards. The Hash House
Harriers were born.

Alberto E.I. Gispert (1903-1942)

One of the official founders of the Hash Alberto E.I. Gispert or ‘G’
House Harriers is Alberto Esteban Ignacio
Gispert (in short: ‘G’). In WWII, Hashing died Courtesy of press kit at Harrier.net
out and Gispert was killed in action in the
battle of Singapore on february 11th 1942.
The remaining members of the 1938 H3
restarted the organization in 1946. First
only in Kuala Lumpur, later on also in Milan
and Singapore.

75 years after Gispert’s death, there are
more than 2000 H3 ‘kennels’ (clubs)
worldwide. A lot of these kennels still
organize an annual Gispert Memorial Run.



The precursor of Hashing

Harper’s Weekly, 1874
Courtesy of press kit at Harriet.net

A Grand Master

Lisa Boyle is an English expat who has been living in Amsterdam for almost 20
years now. She has lived and hashed all over the world since first being
introduced to it by a friend. She now leads one of the kennels in the Netherlands
and can call herself the Grand Master of the Hash House Harriers Amsterdam.

Boyle: ‘Hashing is certainly a different way of doing sports and I can’t think of any
other group that will take such a range of ability and commitment or enthusiasm.
Some people at a meet won’t even run, while others are ultra marathon runners. It
is a unique way of combining all these different people. The idea is that you have
the same ethos, nobody is discriminated. Even if you hash on the other side of the
world, you can easily connect over some chit chat about the organization. There is
no real description of being a hasher, everybody can be one. But I think it became
an expat organization by default. It is just an easy way to meet new people and to
get to know the city, because you do runs in different parts of the city. These are

all traits that are very appealing when you first arrive in a new country.’

The Amsterdam Hash House Harriers exploring the city

Amsterdam, unknown
Courtesy of Amsterdam Hash House Harriers website. Harrier.nl

Why is hashing done by
expats?

Although hashing is not an expat only sport, certain traditions make it very
welcoming, especially for expats. Worldwide, the main language for hashing
kennels is English. The organization is not fractionated by different unions in
different countries like football or hockey is. The international Harrier
Magazine, for example is the H3 magazine any hasher worldwide would
read. And no matter where you come, you can just find a local team through
the internet, read in the agenda when the next run is and simply join it.
Hashing exists thanks to internationality.

Also the non-obligatory aspect of hashing makes the sport so ideal for
expats, who tend to come and go whenever they want. At H3, you pay per
run (to cover up the cost of beers and snacks) and there is no membership
contribution. For expats, this can be a very important reason to join a local
kennel. There are no obligations, only fun.

Harrier Magazine shows how international
hashing is

Left: December 2017
Above left: Februari 2013
Above right: July 2012
Courtesy of the online Harrier Magazine



Rituals and Melody – Do, Re, Mi (Sound of Music)
traditions Dos, a beer, a Mexican beer,
Ray, the guy who buys me beer, (Thanks Ray!),
Abbie is an Amsterdam hasher Me, the guy, he buys beer for,
with a Canadian background. In Far, a long-long way to run,
an interview with NAP Nieuws So, I think I’ll have a beer!
she says that that she feels at La, la la la la la la,
home with the other hashers. Tea, no thanks I’ll have a beer,
And that brings us back to Dos, dos, dos, dos…
Many shared traditions, like
drinking songs and red dress Melody – Itself
runs, help hashers connect with All lay, zooma zooma zooma,
each other and make them a All lay, zooma zooma hey!
close group. The Hash House All lay, zooma zooma zooma,
Harriers are like an international All lay, zooma zooma hey!
frat house for runners. Drink it down, you Zulu warrior!
Drink it down you Zulu chief, chief, chief!
In that way, hashing is not just a Suck, Swallow, Hurl!
sport, but a lifestyle. It has its Hurl! Hurl! Hurl!
own language, rituals, traditions
and even fashion. And this can Actions: Place your hand above your head to mimic
be very helpful for expats. wearing a headdress and spin around. Alternate
directions for each line until the “Drink it down” portion.

Drinking songs make drinking even more fun

Courtesy of the Hash House Harrier Songbook

Language

The Hash House Harriers have their own symbols and language. Hashers
can recognize each other in busy meeting places by shouting ‘on-on!’. And
only a hasher will recognize a ‘ladies check’ or ‘beer stop’ when running past
a certain sign on the street.
Language unites people and creates identity. The Hash House Harrier
language is often sexist, dark-humorous and maybe even offensive, but all
meant in a funny way. An average hasher name could be: Thirsty Taco,
Grampa YankMyDick or Bitch Warmer.

Hasher symbols can look
quite mysterious for
non-hashers

Amsterdam, unknown
Courtesy of Amsterdam Hash
House Harriers
Harrier.nl

When Grand Master Lisa Boyle (hasher name Slippery Edge) stumbled upon
a hashing trail in New Zealand, she immediately felt like going on a run. For
expats, this kind of group identity can be very important. It gives an idea of
‘belonging’ in a community. Instead of feeling like a ‘migrant’ or even an
‘intruder’, being a hasher is a kind of identity anyone can lay a claim on.

The Lady In Red The Red Dress Run

San Diego, 2012 On August 7, 1987, a woman wearing a red dress
Courtesy of the San Diego Harriers emerged from an airplane in southern California to visit
a friend from high school. Shortly thereafter, she was
introduces to the Hash House Harriers by that same
friend. One member, noting her red dress, urged that she
“just wait in the truck” until they returned from their run.
A little bit offended by this notion, she went along, still
wearing her red dress and heels.The following year, to
celebrate the event, the San Diego Hash House Harriers
sent “The Lady In Red” an airline ticket to attend the very
first Red Dress Run. Hundreds of male and female
hashers clothed themselves in red dresses for a hash
run. The Lady In Red suggested that Hash House
Harriers hold the Red Dress Run annually as an occasion
be used to raise funds for local charities.The tradition of
the Hash House Harriers Red Dress Run quickly spread
to every corner of the globe. Over the years, the Red
Dress Run has been very successful in raising millions
of dollars for a wide variety of local charities.

The first red dress run United Hashers

San Diego, 1988 Washington DC, 2001
Courtesy of the San Diego Harriers Courtesy of Red Dress Runs

The red dress run is one of more well known traditions of
the Hash House Harriers. Events like these connect harriers
all over the world, hereby creating a sense of belonging and
reinforcing the feeling of a ‘hasher identity’.

The culture and traditions of hashing have proven to quickly A red dress ‘Circle’
create a group feeling under expats from all over the world.
It is very easy to join the Hash House Harriers and become Place unknown, 2014
a hasher yourself. Therefore, hashing is the perfect cure for Courtesy of Red Dress Runs
being an outsider. On-on!

Credits

This digital scrapbook was researched and authored by Vincent Smit and Tjarda van der Spek

Special thanks to:
The Amsterdam Hash House Harriers for inviting us on a hash and providing us with more

information about hashing.

Interviewee Lisa Boyle, for talking about her expat life in The Netherlands and Hong Kong and about
her identity as ‘Dutch’, ‘English’, and ‘Hasher’.

The Red Dress Run organization, for providing us with a lot of good assets and being very
supportive and enthusiastic about our project.

Judith Waller and Matthew Smith for inspiring us to talk about expat identity and sports as a ways
of integration.

Also thanks to The Expatriate Archive Centre, dr. M.S. Parry and A.K. Levin for the informative and
inspiring teachings. You really stimulated our creativity.

All infographics were designed using Piktochart
Cover illustration courtesy: Cover of Sport Story Magazine 22-09-1929