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MA: And what, tell me about your elementary school. What was the name of your school?

GK: The name of the school was First Street School. And we went there from kindergarten up 'til sixth grade. And one teacher that I remember particularly was our fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Futterman, and I remember her because she would let me fix her a lettuce salad for lunch every day, and then she had me put some French dressing on it. And that's the first time I had tasted French dressing. So she let me do that every day. And then another teacher I remember was in fifth grade, her name was Mrs. Cohen, but I really don't remember too much about her.

MA: And how big was the Japanese student population, do you remember, in...

GK: Oh, in First Street School?

MA: Yeah, in your elementary school.

GK: Oh, boy.

MA: Like in your classes, were there lots of Niseis?

GK: No, there were not a lot. Maybe ten percent, so it was not a lot. However, when you took the whole school, you know, I guess there was a sizeable number of Japanese students.

MA: Was it primarily Jewish?

GK: No, there again, I think it was mixed. We had some black students and Hispanics and Russians even, and Chinese and Japanese. So it was mixed.

MA: Yeah, it sounds very diverse.

GK: (Yes), it was.

MA: I was gonna ask you about what you, the food you ate at home. What kind of food did your mother prepare? Was it mainly Japanese?

GK: Yes, it was mostly Japanese, and she made good stir fried main dishes. So we always had rice and usually miso soup, and then she made these Japanese pickles, you know, out of cucumber or radishes. So yes, I would say it was mostly Japanese cooking.

MA: And did you do a New Year's celebration in your family? Or what holidays did you celebrate?

GK: Yes, well, we had New Year's celebration, so we had the usual mochi and then all the special dishes that they serve at New Year's Day like lima beans and... let's see, what else? They had, I guess, lima beans, and then they had fish, small fish, and all of those were supposed to bring good luck. So what else did they have? Oh, they had something made with seaweed flavored with soy sauce and things like that.

MA: And what were your Christmas, Christmases like?

GK: Christmases like? Well, my parents, we always put up a tree, and every Christmas they would buy some gifts for the three children but then keep them hidden until Christmas Day and then we were able to open them, then they'd put them in little suitcases for us. So we always looked forward to that, opening them on Christmas Day.

<End Segment 6> - Copyright ©2009 Densho. All Rights Reserved.