<Begin Segment 17>

TI: Now for you, going back to your story, after you finished high school, what did you do next?

CH: Well, it was popular in those days for girls to go and, go to the city, and either go to school. Two of my friends went to San Francisco State, and I went to business college, Healds Business College. Well, my parents paid for the tuition, but we had to find a place to say. And through the YWCA, I remember going to the YWCA and staying there one night until they could locate living quarters for us. It was very popular in those days where families would hire schoolgirls to do just, help with the cooking and take care of their kids after school, and then stay with them, live-in, and they supplied room and board. And it was called schoolgirls. And I don't know if we got paid ten dollars or something, but I remember it was very little. But right away, of course, a lot of country girls came and we were going to the city, and I remember if I didn't like this family, I'd just put an ad in the paper, and answer the ad, and take my suitcase and go over there and get into another family and live with them for a while. I was pretty bold in those days. There was, I think there was one place I moved about three times. [Laughs]

TI: To try and find a good family?

CH: Good family.

TI: And what made a good family versus a hard family? What were you looking for?

CH: Well, especially when they feed you, they don't give you enough, and that burned me up. And then another thing, one place I had to... these people, she owned a dress shop downtown in San Francisco in a real ritzy, so she was kind of high falutin. I had to help her with the dinner dishes, after dinner wash all the dishes and put 'em away. And she was very... well, maybe she didn't eat that much either, but anyway, she used to give me just a little portion. I mean, I was always hungry. And then on top of that, I moved because they didn't have, the living quarter had to be down in the basement where all the other help were. And I remember there was a Filipino guy, and he was, I don't know, worked in the building, I don't know if it was maintenance or what, he was down there. And I was kind of scared of him. And I'd lock the door, because I had to use the community bathroom, and it was down the hall. And I'd run into him, that guy, every once in a while. No, I moved out of there real quick. Yeah, with one suitcase and a few books.

TI: So did you eventually find a family that you enjoyed?

CH: Yeah, most of them had some kind of, one of them had kids that I had to be there right after school, when they got home from school, and give them something to eat, and made sure they got into their studies until their mother came home from work. That place, they didn't have a room for me, a separate room or anything like that, so I had to sleep, well, it's part of their, they had music instruments and a bookcase, and it was kind of the library-like. And it was kind of a community place that I can't sleep until everybody went to bed, and it wasn't very convenient for me to study either. So I just packed up my... no, I put an ad in the paper, got a call, so I went to the next place.

[Interruption]

TI: Oh, you found another family, a Japanese family?

CH: Well, it just so happened that their daughter worked at the fair, too. And then their daughter married one of the diplomats that came over to work with the fair, and so they got married and she took off for New York. So Mr. and Mrs. Moriyama had an extra room, you know, Kazu's room, so I paid rent and I stayed there. They were very nice, older people. In fact, he was a photographer. His studio was his home, too, and he was quite a well-known photographer, I mean, did portraits and weddings and funerals and everything like that for people. Anyway, I stayed with them, and they kind of wanted company, too, because Kazu had left. And she finally went to Japan and got caught in the war.

TI: Oh, because she married a Japanese diplomat?

CH: Diplomat, yeah, and she went to Japan. They went back to Japan.

TI: She was a Nisei?

CH: Nisei, uh-huh.

TI: Now, was there much difference between the Japanese and Japanese Americans who lived in the city, like San Francisco, versus the Japanese who lived in the Sacramento area? Could you tell the difference, or were they about the same?

CH: I would say the San Francisco ones were a little bit more sophisticated. They were more... San Francisco was kind of, like I say, people were more well-dressed. In those days we all wore hats and gloves, and always, well, San Francisco was cold, so you always had a coat on. Sacramento was more casual, it's a hot area, so you don't dress up as much.

TI: Going back to your friend who married a diplomat, so to me, that's a little unusual because a diplomat would have probably come from a very high class family in Japan.

CH: Well, he was... this is for the fair. And because he worked for the fair, he was, had a lot of privileges, you know. And being one of the diplomats, he wasn't a higher-up or anything, I don't know, his assistant, I suppose. But anyway, she married him. But because of his association with people that are, I mean, they did, when they went back to Japan, I think they went on that boat when all the diplomats were being, war was breaking out and they shipped all the diplomats from New York all the way around the other way instead of going across the Pacific, because Pacific is where, you know, they got bombed, they weren't gonna take a chance of having that boat bombed. So they went from New York all the way around to Japan. They were on the boat for quite a while, I remember Mother telling me that.

TI: But your friend, did she speak really good Japanese?

CH: My friend that got married to the diplomat? Yeah, she was raised in San Francisco, so she was... she was Americanized, I thought. I think she went to Japanese school, and at least she was able to... but she did, she was real subdued. She'd make a very nice diplomat's wife.

TI: I'm going to stop the interview now, because the next part of the interview I want to get into when you worked at the World's Fair. So this is probably a good place to stop, and then we can pick up next time right before you start working at the fair.

CH: Okay.

TI: So great job, this was really interesting. I learned a lot, and we'll get back together.

CH: Okay.

<End Segment 17> - Copyright © 2014 Densho. All Rights Reserved.