<Begin Segment 21>

DG: And when did you have to leave?

MH: I think March, end of March.

DG: Okay. And so you had three preschool children and then you all...

MH: One, only one goes to the kindergarten, Kumi is. And then went to school, UCLA's training school. West Los Angeles school is a training school so one child and three teachers, more teachers. So that particular school is very, very -- what they called -- something different because teachers all come in and then principal inspect all the teachers. "Your hair is not clean," or, "Your button is off," or something like that. So children, everybody clean clothes and then went to...

BF: And this is where Kumi was going?

MH: Uh-huh.

DG: For half a day?

MH: Yeah. But school teaching is a different, too. They didn't teach ABC. Once a week they take to all over mountain and then write "tree" picture. Most let them draw the picture and then "tree," Words, teaching words. Take to the ocean in Santa Monica and then "boat."

BF: So they were trying -- this was like training for the teachers. They were trying to, trying out different methods of teaching, it sounds like.

MH: Probably so because after we went to the Santa Anita school, they teach ABC first grade. My daughter don't know anything about ABC, but the birds, boat, ocean. She writes, but ABC -- "You're wrong. This is the C." "What is a C?"

BF: This was in the assembly center in Santa Anita?

MH: Santa Anita.

BF: So what a change of environment for her from this kind of special training school with three teachers for her, to a racetrack.

MH: Oh, really had trouble.

<End Segment 21> - Copyright © 1997 Densho. All Rights Reserved.