<Begin Segment 22>

MA: So you ended up in Kauai.

IN: Honolulu first.

MA: In Honolulu, okay.

IN: And stayed with my uncle for a few days. 'Cause as I told you previously, my uncle had migrated to Honolulu. And then I got on a plane and went to Kauai. And at that time, Lihui didn't have an airport, Kauai didn't have an airport, so I landed at the Mana military airport. And it was mostly sand and cement. I don't even remember if they had a hanger. But we landed and I got off. I had two suitcases and I was standing there, and there was a gentleman with an old, old truck with no side doors. He came up to me and he said, "Are you one of the teachers?" And I said, "Yes, I am." "Are you going to stay at the teacher's cottage?" And I said, "Yes, I am." He says, "Hop on." So I hopped on this truck and he took me to the cottage and at that time, the three teachers, I think two were from the island of Hawaii, and one was from Honolulu. And I met them and I started my teaching career there.

MA: Were these other teachers of Asian ancestry?

IN: No. Two were Japanese ancestry and one was Chinese.

MA: So there was four of you, living, and what was the teacher's cottage like?

IN: It was very nice. Very open being that, you know, the climate is so good. But it was very nice. Not fancy, but had a kitchen and four bedrooms, each one of us had a separate bedroom. And a living area.

MA: And what were you teaching at that time?

IN: Waimea High School.

MA: And what subjects?

IN: Business and economics.

MA: And what were the students like?

IN: I was surprised, because there were very few Caucasians. They're really the minority. At that time, there were mixes, but not as much as there are today. And there was a lot of, at that time, the general population involved Japanese, Chinese, Portuguese, Filipino, Hawaiian, mostly. And very few Caucasians.

MA: And were most of these students from, like, plantation worker families?

IN: Right, most of them were, majority, yes.

MA: Was there one main plantation on Kauai, or were there several?

IN: Each village had its own plantation. And I think that's why the houses, the residences grew around the plantation. But most of them lived in plantation homes. And I don't know, I think they must have rented it. But you know, they were all similar. The neighboring villages had their plantation. But we recruited from, it was called Waimea High School. From Waimea, oh, it encompassed about, I'd say five miles both ways. Five, ten miles, in a circle.

MA: And how was it for you, being in a majority Asian community?

IN: How did I feel?

MA: Yeah, how did you feel being in that environment?

IN: Gee, I think it felt really good. To this day, I feel good when I go to Hawaii.

MA: Yeah, much different than the U.S.

IN: Uh-huh. The principal was Caucasian, but the vice-principal was Japanese.

MA: And what sorts of, when you weren't teaching, what sorts of activities did you take up while you were there?

IN: Well, let's see, how old was I? About twenty-two, twenty-three. Of course, I was interested in men. [Laughs] So we met some of the men, some of them were from the plantation. Some have business, stores, one was a contractor. But we met a very eligible group of men. And they played tennis, so guess what? I learned how to play tennis. And I never had picked up a racket in my life, but of course, they were there, so I had to learn how to play tennis, and I did. And I won the championship.

MA: So you're quite good then.

IN: I guess. You know, it's a small competition.

MA: Oh, that's great. So in total then, how long were you in Hawaii teaching?

IN: Three years.

MA: And reflecting back, how do you feel about that experience in Hawaii? Very positive?

IN: Wonderful. First time I experienced being not a minority. It was a good experience. It was a different kind of life where the social life was different from what it is today. You go out on the beach, you'd cook food on the beach, you'd sleep overnight on the beach, you'd go fishing on the pier. It was such a easy life. Different.

MA: And what about teaching-wise, how was your experience as a teacher for the first time?

IN: Well, I was young then, so the students really, you know, accepted me. Because I was so very, very young. When I compare it, very obedient, very much, the parents were very much interested in educating. They respected the teachers so much. I got so much respect. To me, they were very nice children. Nice teenagers, put it that way.

<End Segment 22> - Copyright © 2008 Densho. All Rights Reserved.