<Begin Segment 4>

MA: And did you attend a Japanese language school?

GH: Uh-huh. It was, for us, it's a way of life. All the Japanese kids go to school. Right after English school, we go Japanese school, on the way home, it's right there. And we all go there, and Saturdays, too.

MA: So it was six days a week?

GH: Uh-huh.

MA: What was your, do you remember your teachers?

GH: Uh-huh. In fact, you know, because of our age, step up there, that we all had the same teacher year by year, even in grade school. At our elementary school, we all had the same teachers practically. But in Japanese school, we always wanted to excel, because of our parents, we don't want to disgrace them, and we really, really try hard. So it's kind of a shame that it was all wasted. That when it stopped, I forgot, I forgot everything. I mean, I forgot how to read and write. Isn't that something? To fourth grade, I went to, and completely forgot it.

MA: What language did you speak at home? Was it primarily English?

GH: Mostly English, uh-huh. Some Japanese that we hear them speak, and they use some Japanese in between. So we learned, that's how we learned, I think, is that we learned to hear from hearing them speak to each other and to us a little bit. But mostly English they spoke.

MA: What about pidgin? Did your family speak a little bit of pidgin?

GH: Yeah, it was pidgin in those days, uh-huh. In those days, it used to be more pidgin than today, you know. Things have changed now. But before, used to be pidgin. And we used to say the pidgin isn't as bad as the outer island pidgin. 'Cause outer islands, somehow they seem more countrified. And outer island was really country. Here, it's like the city. In the old, old days, it was like a city compared to the outside islands. So their pidgin was really, really old, old country style. We used to, we never heard it before. [Laughs] And it seemed strange to us. So we found out when we went to camp, when we met the outside island kids.

MA: That's when you, you heard their language, sort of, differences?

GH: Yes, uh-huh. So anyway, that was an experience. [Laughs]

MA: What about your elementary school? What elementary school did you attend?

GH: It's still there, Puuhale, Puuhale school. It's still there, and it's out, going towards the airport. And I guess we all went there.

MA: You and all your siblings?

GH: Uh-huh, uh-huh.

<End Segment 4> - Copyright © 2009 Densho. All Rights Reserved.