<Begin Segment 26>

AI: Well, so then when school started that fall, what grade were you put into?

MK: I went into tenth grade, tenth grade. (...) No, excuse me, freshman. Freshman year, right, freshman (...). And that was the time, see, I didn't know where my, all my other friends were, in which block or whatever. There was no registry that was posted, so, that was kind of a welcome beginning. So, I really acquainted myself with the friends, where they were living. But we, of course, no family would really want outsiders to come into their one-room apartment, so that never happened. If we met we would have to meet in the cafeteria or, and I wasn't there very long, but movies that they showed (...) maybe once a week. But, I guess the finding of friends was the thrill in those days.

AI: Do you recall much about school? Is there anything about school that kind of comes to mind when you think back on that school in Minidoka?

MK: Well, I had an exceptionally nice core teacher who was Margaret Pollock. And she wrote to me even after I left camp. She knew where I was going, back to Japan. And even during my nurse's training, I believe (...), I followed her. And she had a mini-stroke, and she recovered and she sent me a couple of Christmas cards, letters, and then I never heard from her. But she was definitely leaning toward the missionary side. I never knew her that personally, but definitely a beautiful person who was married to a mining engineer who spent a lot of time away from the city, so I think this is why she chose this type of work. And she was the closest to me. And then I remember other teachers also, but... they were very kind. I mean, I never experienced... they were exceptional people because I never experienced any unkind word or actions from them. But definitely it was a very sparse situation.

AI: When you say "sparse," what do you mean?

MK: Oh, the furniture, of course. And the material, the textbooks.

AI: So there really was very little?

MK: Very little, very little, just enough to run a school. And I think if the teacher wasn't strong it could've, you could lose the whole class, I'm sure.

AI: Well, in fact, I heard that sometimes there were some difficulty with some of the kids perhaps not being as disciplined as when they were back home. What about your younger brothers? Did you have any difficulty keeping them behaving well and doing what they should do?

MK: Right, well, being that they were young, I don't think my mother had too much trouble. My mother was a disciplinarian. Being proper was so important in the family. But being that we were there in Minidoka for just a short while, maybe about fifteen months, yeah, about fifteen months, I understand that yes, things began to, families began to fall apart because as they found friends they would go to another cafeteria. Yes, that was beginning to happen, where you would learn that other blocks served better food. So I guess they had some, each block had some autonomy from the ration that they received. And the teenager would be the first one to find the better cafeteria, and they would go and eat with their friends. And I think -- and that's believable, isn't it? I mean...

AI: Did you do that sometimes? Did you...

MK: I don't think I ever ate at another block. I'm, being, again, without a father, I think you just fear that you don't want to break up that nuclear family, so I remember we were all always together. So, I don't even remember going to another block, maybe just seventeen and nineteen. Isn't it strange? I mean, (...) we're confined, you really can't get lost, but still, that's, that was my area; and then walking to high school and back.

<End Segment 26> - Copyright © 2003 Densho. All Rights Reserved.