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#152 Navy #3247 (Mil. Govt) FPO San Francisco Wed. 28 February 12:30 pm Darling, This school business is such fun at times - Tel and I have just been wangling two more hospital tents (for the last needed classroom space) and the right to employ professional (rather than voluntary) labor at the newly built school [suiji?] which is soon to be put into operation. We had to use a rapid fire mixture of stating the need, pointing with pride (to the colonel's position as head of an operation which is beginning to come into prominence largely because of the school), concession and conciliation, and browbeating. We end up by getting the two tents ‘on loan, until they’re needed for something more urgent’ (to Tel that's a definite victory, because once they’re set up on the school grounds they'll probably be forgotten) and by being given permissions to go ahead and hire 3 or 4 men on the MG payroll as a nucleus, on condition that we work out some means of making the community pay the expense after awhile. Since it is planned ultimately to put the community on a private [?] and public taxation, generally self-supporting basis in time anyhow, that's not too grave a menace. [pg 2] These brief illustration are typical of the way the whole school has grown up from the beginning, and explain to some extent what makes it so interesting to work there. Nevertheless, both Tel and I will be glad when most of these problems of physical plant and maintenance are solved because there are so many matters of curricula and administration that need more thought and supervision, even with our six Nisei to help us. (having them means both widened potentialities and a greater need of our planning for them.) The [suiji?] is more or less my baby - Tel has recently delegated a few of his responsibilities to me. It was begun with the understanding that its operation would be entirely on a voluntary labor basis - teachers, parents and kids. Tel knew at the time that such operation would be impossible but, as always, figured that a gain was a gain. His philosophy is that once you persuade somebody to invest in a project, he's not going to drop it lightly when it's half-developed simply because he finds the original conditions inadequate. [pg 3] We do plan to use largely volunteer labor and to run the suiji for purposes of teaching as well as feeding the kids. A class of 40 will be assigned to it each day (each class from 5th-8th grade will take a day off for the purpose about once a month) and will do all the washing and peeling of the next day's vegetables - largely sweet potatoes - be taught a little cookery, and dig and bring in the vegetables for the day after that, or some such system. Up till now, as I may have mentioned, none of the school children - and nobody else not employed - has received lunch. As a result of that fact attendance at afternoon athletics is off about a third. When I sat down to write just now it was to tell you that your delicious cookies (or whatever you call them) arrived this morning in excellent shape, along with e jars of anchovy paste and cheese spread, the bouillon cubes, the soap box, the crayon pencils, the invaluable china cement and the embroidery cotton. In two other packages came Hahn and Belden, in which I've already browsed sufficiently to savor the style - They [pg 4] look like entertaining reading. It's so good to have a few books around. 10:15 pm All tuckered out and ready for bed - Oh, yes, books. I'll send Ehrenburg and Steinbeck (Tortilla Flat) and a couple of other books within the next couple of days. Be sure to let me know when you receive them. Pajamas: that, sweetie, is one of life's little disappointments. Here they are all wrapped and ready to go (I wore them a week this time instead of just three days so that you’d have more of me in them) - but I thought I’d better check with the doctor first on account of my crud. (He has enough delicacy, Dr. Kooser - a family man - not to poke fun about exchanging pajamas, so I just explained). He said better not send them till I get over it, which may be several weeks. No, it's nothing at all like jungle rot; just a very minor affair, though obstinate. It disappears automatically in cool climates, but California's probably not cool enough. “Crud” is the familiar name for it and its encountered frequently enough in the states, too. Nothing but a surface skin itch. Goodnight darling - dream of me I love you Warren
