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AI: Do you remember your first year or so in school?

WW: First year? Not too much. About the only thing I can remember is I would, I didn't like to go to school or want to go to school. My mother would put me on the bus, I'd go to school, and get off the bus and walk home. And tell, give my mother excuses, tell them that the big boys made me get off or whatever. Eventually, apparently, I became used to it and continued going to the school.

AI: Well, now, you mentioned that, about your mother having difficulty learning English at first when she went to school.

WW: Right.

AI: But what about you? What language did you use in the home when you were a kid?

WW: English was spoken at home, in our home. The only Japanese I was exposed to was from my grandparents being around, and what I learned from them is pretty much what I know now, which is pretty limited.

AI: Did, did your grandparents live with you?

WW: No. We lived separately, however, they were close enough that I saw them frequently.

AI: Well, and so tell me about the house that you lived in. Was your house right next to, on the same land as the greenhouses or was it separated?

WW: I'm not sure where we, if we lived with my grandparents initially or not, but I do know that eventually, my dad built a home that was not too far from my grandfather's house.

AI: And as a kid, were you ever asked to help out? Did you have responsibilities where you had chores or some particular job that you had to work at?

WW: No, I don't remember ever having to do anything as far as work goes. It seems to me my recollections are just playing and so forth. Of course, I was, I was six years old when we left Kent, so...

<End Segment 4> - Copyright © 2004 Densho. All Rights Reserved.