<Begin Segment 7>

LL: So moving on to school, you spoke, your primary language then, spoke Japanese at home, English in school. Where did you, do you remember where you went to school?

MI: Yeah, it was Couch elementary, and then Washington High School, then after that I went to the University of Oregon before I had to come home.

LL: So Washington High School, was that, if you were living in Nihonmachi, that was quite a ways.

MI: It was quite a ways out of the boundary of where I was supposed to go. I was supposed to go to Lincoln High School, but my very good friend lived in East Portland, so I used her address and went to Washington High School.

LL: So that you could...

MI: So I could be with Mae, yes.

LL: When you talk about school, what did you like about school? Did you have a favorite subject?

MI: I don't remember a favorite subject. I remember my friend's favorite subject that I couldn't emulate her because she was terribly, very talented. We both went to the same Japanese language school, but I could never keep up with her as far as writing and reading was concerned.

LL: With Washington being so far away, Washington High School, how did you get to school?

MI: Oh, public transportation.

LL: And did you go alone, did you travel there...

MI: I guess I did, now that you say that. There was a friend or two, I think, joined me a couple times, but no, I don't remember.

LL: And how about your grade school?

MI: For grade school, the school was about ten city blocks from where we lived, and my dad would take us, George and me, to the school every morning and come after us every afternoon.

LL: Every day?

MI: Uh-huh.

LL: And did you walk?

MI: Yes.

LL: Were you walking ten blocks?

MI: Well, we couldn't understand why we had to walk, because there was a car in the garage, but he never used it. Yeah, so we had to walk.

LL: Good exercise.

MI: Oh, I guess, but it was kind of dumb.

LL: And did you take lunch to school? Did you eat in...

MI: Well, I remember trading lunches with a very good friend of mine who was Jewish, and my mother would make some kind of meat sandwich or tuna fish sandwich, but I would trade her my sandwiches for what she brought, and she brought these sandwiches that were made with butter fats. This is what Jewish people ate, I guess, and I just thought it was wonderful. And then my mother heard about it, and she wondered why I was so stupid. [Laughs] She didn't think it was a very healthful lunch, but yes, I went that way with Joanne for many years, because we were just very good friends. I didn't know any better.

LL: How did your mom find out that you were trading her lunch that she made?

MI: Well, because I made the mistake of not finishing one lunch, and I took it home, and she wanted to know what it was, and she opened it up and there it is, this yellow guck. I thought it was very good, myself.

LL: So do you remember, lots of times people had nicknames in school.

MI: Did I have one? No.

LL: Did you or did your friends have nicknames?

MI: I don't remember. I don't remember a nickname at all.

LL: Were most of the, you mentioned most of your friends were other Nisei. Were there a lot of other Japanese Americans in class, in school that you remember?

MI: Not in my classes. I think there was only one other Japanese American, and he turned out to be one of the brilliant scholars, and then there was me, we were both in the same class, and he was brilliant, and I was the other way. [Laughs]

LL: So do you remember, did you have a favorite teacher, or what was your relationship with classmates and teachers?

MI: Yeah, I think there were favorite classmates, I don't remember a teacher, per se, that was outstanding or anything. I don't remember that.

LL: You mentioned in the interview before that there was a pool at Couch.

MI: Yes, that's where I got into trouble, is when they pushed me in the deep end, and from then on I've never been in a pool.

LL: So who pushed you in the...

MI: Oh, some kid. I still don't remember all the circumstances, but it stayed with me, and I just remembered that I just could not get into water anymore after that.

LL: So that had a very long-lasting effect on you.

MI: Yeah, it had a lifelong lasting effect.

<End Segment 7> - Copyright © 2013 Oregon Nikkei Endowment and Densho. All Rights Reserved.