<Begin Segment 9>

RP: So you started going to school in Florin, correct?

SK: Yes, yes.

RP: Where did you go?

SK: I went to a school off of Hedge and Fruitridge, now I can't remember the name of that school. I started there.

RP: Can you describe the school for us?

SK: Not really. If I saw the school now, I mean, if I was to describe it, I would say that it was a small school. But aside from that, I don't remember how it looked or who the people were that attended. I do remember walking there every, I mean, school day. There was no bus or anything, so rain or shine, we walked, or I walked. Because my sister, I think, was still too young to go. I probably was the only one.

RP: Was it an integrated school?

SK: Yes. This was not a segregated school, I remember that. It was integrated.

RP: And who else went to the school?

SK: All the kids that lived around that area in the farm area.

RP: And that would be Caucasians, Japanese Americans, were there other ethnicities, too?

SK: You know, I really don't know. I would imagine if there were migrant worker kids, they would have gone, too. But I can't be sure. I'm not sure.

RP: Are there any other stories that you'd like to share with us about growing up on the farm and what that was like for you?

SK: Well, the farm thing to me was just like camp to me. It was a fun time, I mean, I don't remember any really bad things. I was able to go fishing or frogging and doing those things that I guess young kids at that time could do. I mean, we weren't restricted as far as worrying about somebody grabbing us off the street or anything, so we were pretty free to wander.

RP: Independent.

SK: Yes, very independent, to wander around, even at the age of five, six years old.

RP: So tell me about your frogging experience. How did you catch frogs?

SK: Oh, I used to use a long bamboo pole with a little hook and a red cloth on the end. And then, you know, you dangle it in front of their face and they'd bite it. Don't ask me why they'd bite it, because my parents were the ones that told me that you could do that. So anyway, I would catch 'em, and I'd put 'em in a sack and I'd bring 'em home. And then my mom would, you know, prepare 'em. But when she prepared 'em the first time, this she told me, I don't remember it. She told me that the first time she prepared it, she shut the lights off because she didn't like to see the frog. After you cut the legs, they twitch. And then she didn't like it when you put 'em in the frying pan, they also twitched. [Laughs] Anyway, we learned how to eat frogs, which was, frog legs, it's very delicious. And that brings up a funny part of our nieces and nephews. During our times here, my parents would have a dinner every Sunday. And one Sunday, a good friend of ours gave us a whole bunch of frog legs and my mother cooked them. But we didn't tell the kids what they were, we told them it was chicken legs. Anyway, they ate it and they thought it was real good, but when my parents told them, my mother told them it was frog, they all go, blecchh. [Laughs] And this was here in Sacramento when the nephews and nieces were growing up. There were nineteen, I think it was nineteen nieces and nephews. Anyway, that frog thing kind of brought that back.

RP: Great story. How about fishing? What did you catch?

SK: We used to catch nothing but carps and catfish.

RP: Was it also part of your mealtimes?

SK: No, we just caught those, I just caught those for fun, and then never kept them. The catfish my mother... yeah, my mother would cook catfish, but I thought most of the time when we caught the catfish, I think my dad went with me or we caught 'em together. But I remember him putting a nail in the head, you cut around the skin, nail the head to a board and peel it to clean the catfish, you know, to skin it. So I think we did eat the catfish.

<End Segment 9> - Copyright &copy; 2011 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.