There are quite a few requirements to fulfill in order to become the IVIP, or international volunteer in park, for the National Park Service. I am getting emails and lists and pdfs and stuff, and of course there is some essential reading and training to do, even before I get there. While I am looking forward to the training courses that will keep me busy for the first few weeks, there is also interesting material available online in web-based training courses and documents. Interestingly enough, one of the official books recommended for the volunteers is the “Roadside Geology of Hawai’i” that I had already bought back in 2008 while traveling in Hawai’i, so that was easy to get hold of – that is, in my own book shelf. The native birds of Hawai’i I will skip for the moment, methinks, and keep that for later.

However, I am currently going through the Eppley online university courses that I was pointed to, and the first one deals with the basics of “Interpretation”, the official name for the job that I will be doing: Explaining, teaching, guiding, providing orientation, answering questions and entertaining the visitors that will come to HAVO Park. Or as John Muir already said in 1896: “I’ll interpret the rocks, learn the language of flood, storm and the avalanche. I’ll acquaint myself with the glaciers and wild gardens, and get as near the heart of the world as I can” – while for Hawai’i, it will rather be Lava Flows and Steam Vents than avalanches, I assume. The profession of Interpretation is a wide one, and has developed in the last 100 years. As an interpreter, one connects the interests and motivations of the visitor with the artifact or natural heritage on site to achieve intellectual and emotional memories. As such, it is beyond giving pure information! It should give a vivid, lasting impression.

Off to the course now!