<Begin Segment 19>

SY: And then you took a train to come back to Los Angeles?

CI: Yes, we did.

SY: Another long train ride.

CI: Another long train ride.

SY: And did you have memory of that?

CI: Oh, I do. I remember that. Because my girlfriend had invited me into Luanas who was one of our, she came back with us to Los Angeles. I think her sister was here already.

SY: So you did have a friend that you could...

CI: Yeah. Well, I didn't see her too much in Chicago, but anyway, we did bring her back.

SY: And so she came and was, she had family here, too?

CI: Yeah, I think her sister was here. And then she went up north. So she was one of the Luanas. So anyway...

SY: So you stayed in touch. And then when you returned back to Los Angeles, where did you end up settling? Back in Boyle Heights?

CI: Boyle Heights. We were at the Evergreen Hostel, I don't know if you're familiar with that.

SY: No. Where was that?

CI: I think it was part of Union Church. I'm not sure if it was the man's or the minister or what, but anyway, it was a pretty big house. And I'm not quite sure where it's located.

SY: Is it near Evergreen?

CI: Well, yeah, it's kind of north. But anyway, it is big and housed about fifty people. It was a hostel, and it had big, like dormitories where all the women, they had beds lined up. And then you were given duties, you were on a list. And like tomorrow you and so many people had to make the sandwiches for the workers and you have to do this, you have to do that. So anyway, it was run by the Quakers. And I remember the woman, she's very tall. She must have been about five-seven or... well, you know, to me she was very large. And spoke perfect Japanese. I heard later on that she, at one time, was Emperor Akihito's tutor in Japan. She was here and she was running the hostel for the Japanese Americans. Giving orders in Japanese. And I was shocked, "Kyou wa... da, da, da, shimasho."

SY: And you all had to live in, was it kind of the dormitory?

CI: Well, it was, yeah. It had a bed assigned...

SY: The women were in one area and the men were in another area?

CI: Yeah. And we were schoolchildren, so a lot of times we had to make sandwiches. You were given assignments. And so we lived there for, I'm not sure how long, because we didn't have a house at that time because we had just come from Chicago. And I went to... someone wanted a schoolgirl, and so that's what I did. I went to the Hervitz's house. They didn't live too far from Roosevelt, and they wanted a schoolgirl. All they wanted me to do for five dollars a month was iron. Every day after school she would dampen about five things. She hated to iron, just hated it. So I would come home and there would be a little bucket, and she had it dampened, and she said, "This is today's." And so that's what I did. That's all I did, was to iron. I guess I was pretty good at ironing. Anyway, and then she gave me room, board and five dollars. Maybe it was five dollars a week. A month is not enough, is it? So anyway, that's what I did.

SY: And she was, her name was Hervitz and she lived in --

CI: Esther Hervitz

SY: And she lived in Boyle Heights.

CI: Near Roosevelt.

SY: And do you know what she did, what her family did?

CI: Oh, she didn't do anything. She just didn't want to iron, so it was worth it to her to give this Japanese girl five dollars a week.

SY: And room and board, though.

CI: And room and board.

SY: So they didn't have children?

CI: Oh, they had two children.

SY: But you didn't have to watch them?

CI: No. All I did was iron. And my girlfriend, she did the same thing, but I don't think she ironed. I'm not sure what she did. But anyway, I was there until I graduated from Roosevelt. I didn't know that she got one of my invitations for my graduation, Mrs. Hervitz.

SY: And what was it like living with her, living in a house with...

CI: Well, a lot of good Jewish food. She wasn't kosher, but she used to bake. I could have anything I wanted to eat.

SY: So she was very nice, treated you well. But did you feel a little like the servant?

CI: No. I mean, I didn't have to do anything very much. [Laughs]

SY: And so your family --

CI: You kind of realize, you know how Jewish people live, they were clean. I think they were like Japanese people, huh?

SY: This was sort of an introduction to you. For all those years you didn't know the difference between Jewish and Japanese, right?

CI: Yeah, so I lived with them.

<End Segment 19> - Copyright &copy; 2012 Densho. All Rights Reserved.