<Begin Segment 16>

EG: So how did you find Seattle and school, back in public American school system?

PT: Well, it felt somewhat strange to me to be going back to school. It was kind of a scary experience for me.

EG: How so?

PT: Well, because I guess I had been away from a regular classroom for such a long time. But somehow I guess I just managed.

EG: Who were the people in the school? Again, like earlier when you were in American school, you were, the students were mostly or largely Japanese American. How about now, when the school first established again?

PT: I think maybe, there were students of all nationalities really, when I went back to school in Seattle.

EG: Let's see. How old are you now? About -- I mean at that time you would have been...

PT: Around twelve or thirteen I imagine, somewhere around there.

EG: So you were just kind of going to school like kids that age do, with not a clear picture of purpose for school, or did you have some idea of what you wanted to be when you grew up?

PT: No, I really didn't. And I think when we were growing up, professions or occupations were more or less limited. We didn't have the -- we felt that we never had the opportunities to venture forth into different types of occupations or professions like the people today. I think women were just expected to become secretaries or nurses, or maybe do housework. And... I don't know. The men were just expected to be accountants or whatever.

<End Segment 16> - Copyright © 1998 Densho. All Rights Reserved.