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TI: Well, how about like the swimming pool, though? Because everyone used that.

JN: Yeah, everybody used that.

TI: So at that point, did you come across, or remember any, like, "Oh, those are the Americans and they speak English"?

JN: Yeah, yeah. Really, I didn't meet anybody there. But I'm sure they were there, the Nisei. But enjoyed going to the swimming pool quite often. I'll never forget how large it was. That's where I learned how to swim. Nobody taught me how to swim, I was just watching, so we had to do this.

TI: How interesting, so you taught yourself how to swim.

JN: And I'm learning how to float, but you learn when you're there. So slowly, you start from the shallow and you start going to deeper, that's what you want to do. A tragic thing happened, a family that I know, the son, their two sisters, what I heard later on, they drowned. Because the swimming pool would be, like I say, shallow, deeper, and then it goes really deep. And what I heard was they were holding hands, not knowing how to swim, somehow somebody let go and went under. Tragic. And I know the boy, because once in a while a teacher would tell stories, and people go listen to him, we liked to hear stories. And right across from them, this family was living there, so I know them quite well. And it was very sad that they passed away.

TI: Did they have, like, a memorial service or anything like that?

JN: No, not that I know, no. But I know I went by, and everything, the window and everything was closed.

TI: At the swimming pool, do you remember, did they have a lifeguard or anything like that? Someone to watch?

JN: You know, I don't remember that part. Just enjoyed swimming there every other day. I had a beautiful tan.

TI: Well, you mentioned Texas...

JN: Yeah, 'cause you go swimming quite often.

TI: Texas gets pretty hot.

JN: Of course, it's hot in Texas. It's a huge round swimming pool.

TI: So how about the food? I think you, early on, you were more in the barrack, so did you go to a mess hall for food?

JN: Well, we only ate once at the mess hall, because we had to pick up our own groceries later on. And my mother would cook at home.

TI: So let me make sure I understand. So when you first got there, you talked about the, kind of the barrack and the apartment, did that have a kitchen there, or did you move to another place?

JN: Oh, sort of like kitchen, yeah. Of course, otherwise you wouldn't be able to cook anything there. This is the barrack. I shouldn't say it's a nice kitchen where we have now, but it's similar to that, you had a sink and stove. But later on, we moved to another area because the camp was getting smaller, people were leaving, so there were less and less people. But while we were there, there were all kinds of events. One that I really enjoyed was, in Japanese, they call it undokai, where all the classes, all the students participate. Third grade would compete with another third grade, with another class, and so on. And running, especially, and if you win, they would give you a pamphlet, they would give you a paper, they would give you a pencil, eraser, that was our prize. But that was very enjoyable, just competing with another.

TI: And when you say third grade class, that was your Japanese class or...

JN: Well, I can't remember if that was third grade. Of course, we did Japanese class, undokai is a Japanese annual event.

TI: And in your class, your Japanese class, was it mostly Japanese Peruvians or were there Niseis in that class?

JN: Yeah, that I'm not sure. Yeah, I'm not sure.

YN: So you usually communicated with other classmate at the Japanese school, did you usually communicate in Japanese with your friends at the time?

JN: Oh, yes, Japanese school. They know if, well, if I spoke Spanish, they didn't know. If they asked me to, if they would speak to me in Japanese, I will answer them in Japanese. Of course, Japanese class, we were reading in Japanese, and we stayed in camp for three and a half years, and I learned to write and read in camp in Japanese. But in English, nothing that I remember, pictures, that's about all.

TI: When you were in Crystal City learning Japanese and reading and writing, where did you think you would go after Crystal City? Did you hear your parents talking about that or did you have a sense of where you were going to go? Like back to Peru, or what did you think was going to happen?

JN: No, there's no discussion, especially for the younger kids. We never hear anything, so the eldest would hear everything, but they really don't tell us where we're going to go. But camp was, for me, very enjoyable.

<End Segment 12> - Copyright © 2019 Densho. All Rights Reserved.