Today I start interpreting at the chandlery. Here at Mystic, interpreters are in their site alone. Without help. I am curious to see how it goes. On one hand, I am a good interpreter. I know this, I have been told this, I've had visitors bring me sarsaparilla and ice cream after a good interpretation. Interpreting was the first thing in my life that I knew I rocked at, and boy was that a great feeling.
However; I know very, precious little about maritime history. And the reason I've been in a constant state of near panic for the last week is that interpreting often requires a base of knowledge to fall back on. As far as maritime things go, I don't have that. Despite doing little besides reading the site manual and about anything I could get my hands on,
There is, however, a beacon of hope. This weekend is the Wooden Boat Show, the absolute biggest draw of the museum all season. On one hand that means there will be a large amount of visitors (though it is cloudy, so perhaps fewer today). On the other hand, those visitors already know a lot about maritime everything. And as they are hobbyists, enthusiasts and professional boatbuilders, I have a hunch I can get them to talk about their craft.
So. Plan of attack for today:
1. Engage visitors so THEY tell me what THEY know.
2. Talk about the people behind the shop, rather than the thousands of little maritime objects scattered about.
3. If necessary, steer conversation into non-maritime waters. Pun intended.
4. If all else fails, fall back on the, I'm an intern from Iowa, most boats I've been on are pontoons.
Ready, go!
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