<Begin Segment 17>

SY: So you were a busy student. Do you remember your classes once you got into high school?

CI: Yes. But I wasn't that good a student, I don't think. Well, me, I wasn't one that just studied and studied.

SY: Were there kids like that in camp?

CI: Oh, I think so.

SY: Who studied a lot? So you were more in the middle?

CI: Oh, I guess.

SY: Was it hard?

CI: Well, we still had college students that were our teachers. I remember some of the teachers were southern.

SY: They were from the area, from Rohwer?

CI: They were. I would have to say that they were quite good teachers.

SY: How about the students? Was it competitive, other Japanese kids?

CI: Well, you know how they are. I think Japanese people are quite competitive. But I think that probably because my parents are Niseis, that could have been one of the reasons why. Like I don't think your mother was that way, was she? Or was she?

SY: To study? No, I don't think so. But I think you probably had it in you somewhere that you needed to do well, right?

CI: Well, I think there's always that giri, the Japanese are always talking about giri? Probably there. Maybe I wasn't aware of that.

SY: So what kinds of classes did you take, do you remember? Was it just basic?

CI: Oh, yeah. You didn't have electives.

SY: You didn't get to choose.

CI: Oh, no, there was no electives.

SY: And what other things, activities did you have in school or outside of school?

CI: Nothing much really.

SY: But you spent how many hours? Like give us a typical day in camp.

CI: Well, we spent most of the time in school. And there were some athletic things, but I remember playing volleyball and basketball. So there were some team activities.

SY: And did you just hang out with your friends when you weren't in school?

CI: Uh-huh.

SY: So did you have little groups? Did the girls all form...

CI: We did have a girls club in camp. We were called the Luanas.

SY: And were there a lot of these little clubs?

CI: I'm not sure. I think there were. Because one of my friends that was in my block invited me to join the Luanas. And about two years ago, we all met. We met and I think only two were not there. One had passed away, the other one was ill. So anyway, we took a picture of... we had one picture of us sitting there and posed, and then we met at Mimi's Cafe and we all wore black and then we stood where we were before. It's kind of like the before and after picture, which was nice.

SY: And what was this club like? Were you real close friends?

CI: Well, I was only close to Lillian. And they were all a year or two years older than me. I was like the youngest one in that club. So I didn't get to do a lot of things that they did. They used to date. But it was kind of nice. And then after the war, two of them, we had a club called the Maharanis. And so I think there were three of us that were the Luanas, now became Maharanis.

SY: So this was way later, after camp.

CI: Afterwards, yeah. And Mary Karatsu became a Maharani. I think she was like... we had the Married Maharanis, so I think she was one of the Married Maharanis. And in fact, there's quite a few still around that were Maharanis before and after marriage.

SY: So do you think this idea of this girl's club, was it something that started in camp?

CI: Probably. And then it was socialization, a way to meet boys after camp.

SY: But in camp, it was really just the girls getting together and talking?

CI: Yeah, talking, and I think they used to go to dances.

<End Segment 17> - Copyright &copy; 2012 Densho. All Rights Reserved.