<Begin Segment 9>

DG: And then so you started living in the camp, what sort of things did you do as a young child? How did you occupy your time?

MW: In camp?

DG: In camp.

MW: Well, we did a lot of walking and watching other people come in because we were the first family groups coming in. And, and seeing the other blocks -- we were all in blocks -- and seeing the other different areas being prepared for the incoming people. And of course we always went, had to go to the mess hall for breakfast lunch and dinner or else you would starve because there wasn't anything else for you to eat. And, and we were there with people that we knew, you know, all the people from Bainbridge Island, so you would just talk and play games with them. And, and we didn't do a lot of organized games but then also, because we had -- like my sister was a senior, too, that year in Bainbridge Island, and there were quite a number of, I don't remember how many, but there were quite a number of the Japanese students who were seniors. So they kinda took over and they corralled us young people and tried to make us study because we didn't finish our school year. Because that was, you know, March yet. And you have March, April, May, June... April, May, at least two more months. So they tried to make us study and learn from the books that they had or didn't have. So that was, I can remember them doing that, and I thought that was... when I think back I think that was really something for them to take it into their own hands to take care of us that way.

DG: So before there was any formal school set up...

MW: That's right, that's right. They did that before there was any formal school set up. And the formal school didn't come probably until the next September. And we had to go down to Block, I think it was Block Two. And there was nothing there for us except we sat on the floor because there was no furniture and there weren't any books. But they did bring in some, some teachers. And so they did the best they could also without the supplies. And I don't know what we learned, but that's the way it started. So that's the way our schooling in Manzanar started.

DG: And was schooling year-round or did you take summers off?

MW: No, schooling wasn't year-round because they didn't have schooling in the summer, that I can remember. And I don't know whether they had anything else... they did start, later on, all these baseball, baseball games started. And when I look back... I was looking back at one of our annuals, which is a good couple years later, and I thought all I did was play baseball and walk around the camp, but I saw myself playing basketball and, and of course we did a lot of singing with those... in those days we had music sheets, and you could buy 'em in the stores. So I suppose that we bought them in the canteens and so we'd all get together and just sing. Because what else better was there to do than to hear our own voices that weren't very adapt to singing. But we had fun doing that. And then of course we had, they eventually had dances, so we were able to do that. And, but most of the time it was, it was sports games. Until they really went into more of that in a more organized fashion.

<End Segment 9> - Copyright © 2006 Densho. All Rights Reserved.