A Day in the Life of: A Non-Native Hawaiian Tour Guide
Today was a fun-filled educational adventure today! We started our day right with some coffee. We went to the Hilo Coffee Mill and learned how they make the coffee beans we buy. So much coffee, so many options, so much money spent. On our way to the coffee mill, we learned about the area of Hilo. Our tour guide also talked to us about the meaning of Hawaii and Aloha. Afterward, we went to the Volcano National Park and saw Kilauea, which is the most active volcano in the world!
Early in the day, we learned about Pele, who is the goddess that is believed to be all things volcanic. In the afternoon, we took a bike tour around the volcano to learn even more about the history of the volcano and about the volcano's lava flow. In the evening, we were lucky enough to hike to "where the Earth gives birth." We saw the lava flow into the ocean. What an amazing, and unreal experience!
One thing about the day that we were so shocked about was how knowledgable our tour guides were. We had two tour guides today: Sean and Deric. Both were very knowledgeable and could talk for hours about the volcanic activity, lava flow, and the history of the Big Island. We were especially impressed because both tour guides were not even from Hawaii. Sean moved the Big Island 9 years ago from Ohio, and Deric recently moved to the Big Island from Maine. In this short period of time, they have learned all of this history and culture and are able to educate groups about Hawaii. We asked Sean how he became so knowledgable, and he answered, "Most of it is self-read." Sean has read many books and websites, and he continues to reaearch online to educate himself. He is so passionate about what the Big Island has to offer, and he wants to share this knowledge with the visitors.
As for Deric, he was trained by Nate, who spent much time educating and training him. Nate trains all of the tour guides, even the native guides. Training the tour guides made sense to us because that is how the guides learn the knowledge and learn how to educate the visitors.
We then turned to Nate, who moved to the Big Island at a young age and is extremely knowledgable about the Big Island. We asked Nate who taught him everything he knows. He pointed to himself. Other than some of the information he learned from going to school, everything else he knows was all self-taught. How did he do this? He reads, conducts researched, and immerses himself into the culture and history of Hawaii, especially the Big Island. We asked these guides how they retain everything. They all said they remember it because they repeat the information constantly. Saying the information over and over again from tour to tour truly helps.
Another answer was that they are interested in the information. Passion is key. Nate connected it back to our lives. He compared touring to the courses we take at Marist. When we take a class we do not like, it is a lot harder to retain the information. When we take a class that is enjoyable, it is much easier to remember the material. Why? Because we are interested in learning and want to learn. The tour guides want to learn about Hawaii. They are passionate about Hawaiian history, and they want to share this wonderful culture ans history to us because it is just so interesting. Nate brought up a very good point. It was great to learn about our tour guides and realize how they learned everything they know in order to educate us and other tourists. As future teachers, we hope to become as knowledgable as our tour guides about the curriculum we need to teach our students, and we hope we could teach it in a fun and interactive way, like our tour guides do.
Early in the day, we learned about Pele, who is the goddess that is believed to be all things volcanic. In the afternoon, we took a bike tour around the volcano to learn even more about the history of the volcano and about the volcano's lava flow. In the evening, we were lucky enough to hike to "where the Earth gives birth." We saw the lava flow into the ocean. What an amazing, and unreal experience!
One thing about the day that we were so shocked about was how knowledgable our tour guides were. We had two tour guides today: Sean and Deric. Both were very knowledgeable and could talk for hours about the volcanic activity, lava flow, and the history of the Big Island. We were especially impressed because both tour guides were not even from Hawaii. Sean moved the Big Island 9 years ago from Ohio, and Deric recently moved to the Big Island from Maine. In this short period of time, they have learned all of this history and culture and are able to educate groups about Hawaii. We asked Sean how he became so knowledgable, and he answered, "Most of it is self-read." Sean has read many books and websites, and he continues to reaearch online to educate himself. He is so passionate about what the Big Island has to offer, and he wants to share this knowledge with the visitors.
As for Deric, he was trained by Nate, who spent much time educating and training him. Nate trains all of the tour guides, even the native guides. Training the tour guides made sense to us because that is how the guides learn the knowledge and learn how to educate the visitors.
We then turned to Nate, who moved to the Big Island at a young age and is extremely knowledgable about the Big Island. We asked Nate who taught him everything he knows. He pointed to himself. Other than some of the information he learned from going to school, everything else he knows was all self-taught. How did he do this? He reads, conducts researched, and immerses himself into the culture and history of Hawaii, especially the Big Island. We asked these guides how they retain everything. They all said they remember it because they repeat the information constantly. Saying the information over and over again from tour to tour truly helps.
Another answer was that they are interested in the information. Passion is key. Nate connected it back to our lives. He compared touring to the courses we take at Marist. When we take a class we do not like, it is a lot harder to retain the information. When we take a class that is enjoyable, it is much easier to remember the material. Why? Because we are interested in learning and want to learn. The tour guides want to learn about Hawaii. They are passionate about Hawaiian history, and they want to share this wonderful culture ans history to us because it is just so interesting. Nate brought up a very good point. It was great to learn about our tour guides and realize how they learned everything they know in order to educate us and other tourists. As future teachers, we hope to become as knowledgable as our tour guides about the curriculum we need to teach our students, and we hope we could teach it in a fun and interactive way, like our tour guides do.
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