I am posting this with permission from my pals at my old Hash House Home in Chiang Mai. The General Manager of the group up there has his own posts about these subjects but I wanted to do one as well and I don't think there is any sort of rule against that.
I moved to Vietnam a few months ago with the hopes of starting my own chapter in Da Nang Vietnam but because of Covid and the basic complete disappearance of foreigners who fled to their home countries, it hasn't been easy.
Hashing is wonderful and is something I hope to be able to do in the near future again someday after things open back up. But in the meantime, here are some basics to familiarize yourself with what is going on when you first try this booze-filled sport.
When you on runs with the Hash House Harriers, you are going to hear terms or hear things shouted that you are likely not going to know about and it is kind of important that you do know these things, particularly if you ever want to be "up front" or if you want to be a FRB or "Front Running Bastard."
When people refer to the "Hare" or "Hares" they are talking about the 1 or 2 people who set the run - meaning, they are the people that determined the path that you are going to be taking through the woods or countryside or jungle that particular day.
Some hares are kinder than others and some of like to make the pack run up hills whereas others prefer to have something a bit simpler. You can bet that all hares try to be unpredictable, so they will always try to do the opposite of what you expect them to do.
Some things you might hear shouted on trail (when you are out running) is "Circle Check" which simply means that someone has located precisely that. In case you had forgotten the discovery of a circle check indicates that the marked trail has ended, and now the runners must determine where the path continue from that point forward. It can be in any direction from the circle no more than 100 meters. This can result in the pack getting quite spread out and they need to communicate to find out what is going on, so you will hear people shouting
"HowarYOU"
And only response to this is to shout back "Checking!" if you actually are up front looking in a certain area or to shout back "On On!" if you have found the trail OR if you are currently on the correct trail. Do NOT shout back anything else and if you are not on the right trail and also are not looking for the right trail, just keep your mouth shut. Trying to "fake out" the other runners is not funny and is one of the few things you can do in a Hash that will definitely get you in deep trouble.
Basically, you should refrain from shouting anything other than the prescribed "HowRyou" and responding with "checking" or "On-On" if you have found, or are following someone who did find, the correct path.
If you hear someone ahead of you shout "Check Back!" or "False Trail" it means that the trail that they are leading, and that you are following, is the incorrect one and you need to turn back and find the correct one. This is a common tactic in a hash run, and it is a fun part of it, but when someone yells these things you do not need to continue in the direction they are in, if you are in doubt about what you heard simply shout "HowRyou?" and wait for a response.
You should also expect people to have very offensive names, such as my pal above whose name is one of the favorites. It is an adaptation of the fact that he had throat surgery about 15 years ago and now it is not possible for him to speak loudly at all, ever. Obviously the inspiration is based on the film The Horse Whisperer
I suppose you don't really need to know these things when you are brand new but at some point in time it will be expected of you to participate a bit more heavily in what is going on in the Hash and learning the basic terminology is a good place to start.
Later, you can't really be considered a full member until you have set a run or rather, until you have been the "hare" at least once and this can be a little big complicated.
While the Hash House Harriers are a global enterprise, there isn't really any sort of hierarchy. It's not like your chapter has to be licensed or anything. I recall a story from a year ago or so where someone was talking about how some people in somewhere in the world contacted the Kuala Lumpur Hash (the first one that existed in the world) and told them that they wanted to start up a hash in (INSERT TOWN NAME HERE) and if that was ok.
The response from the Hash in K.L. was "It's got nothing to do with us! Do whatever you want!"
This is the big hurdle that I am facing now... well, that and the fact that Covid has made it impossible for anyone to move anywhere.