<Begin Segment 20>

AI: And now, the, for the couple of years that you were in Seabrook, your dad, you, and your sister were all working and you didn't have a chance to go back to school.

AS: No.

AI: But, and so tell me what, how you were managing as far as the English and getting along and being able to communicate on the job and how did that go for you while you were there?

AS: Well, it, I, you know, there were some Isseis there, too, so, so I was able to communicate with them in Japanese but, but the Nisei didn't speak much Japanese so I was kinda forced to learn English. And since we, we learned a little bit in camp by going to those classes, and then like, our home, after work, I would get hold of my sister's books and I learned from there.

AI: So while you were --

AS: So I was actually self-taught.

AI: While you were at Seabrook, then, your younger sisters and brothers were going to school?

AS: School, yeah.

AI: And so they were starting to learn English in school?

AS: English school, yeah. And then the other thing is when we went to Seabrook, we made our own team as the Peruvians. Oh, and then we, we got some of the, couple of the Kibeis, too, who were from (Crystal City), got on our team, and then we started playing against the other Nisei teams. And then this Dick Kunishima which was the coach for the Seabrook, Seabrook team, that were playing against the hakujins. And so, after, after the Seabrook league, we were playing there and then Dick came to me and he says, "Hey, how about playing for Seabrook?" So, so he wanted one of the Kibeis and myself to be on the Seabrook team. And so then we were, we were, on the Seabrook team we play against the, in the city league and the industrial league against hakujins. And so then I mingled with the other Niseis and that's how, all the more, forced me to speak English.

<End Segment 20> - Copyright © 2003 Densho. All Rights Reserved.