English

Free

Keeping to the childhood theme: Precocious behavior when you were a child; The Culture Shock and Awe of adjusting to a new place (from childhood until early adulthood); Awards you have received or contests you have won as a child, for example blueberry pie eating contest, etc. The attendees can make the final decision about which of these we discuss.

Moderator: Cindy Edwards

Zoom host: Michi Goto (Zoom link to be sent later.)

Summary

Topics included coping with the heat of summer and how it was a time for child labor; experiencing new and different customs, both at a family level and neighborhood level, that we encountered growing up; our gaps in education especially about native Americans. Jess went to school with Cherokee and Seminole kids with all grades in the same classroom. His new teacher responded to a child who was a Cherokee that there were no Cherokees in Georgia! His grandmothers were Cherokee.The identity from Georgia being a penal colony was strong. We reported that our educations were lacking in important aspects of US and local history. Alcohol sales and prohibitions were also a topic. In Hungary, no alcohol is sold the day before a national election according to Michi. That led to chat about old Blue Laws limiting business hours and alcohol sales in different states and about the production of moonshine.

The discussion about prizes as a child was fun: Stuart won the greased watermelon in the ocean contest; Sally won 3rd prize twice for a church poster design contest and a coloring contest for which she won rollerskates; I won a blueberry pie eating contest and $5! Chihiro participated when invited and added her viewpoints and experiences on things. She does not feel the heat and never sweats. Riding a unicycle was tough for her. Michi talked about coping with the heat by spending time in a storage cellar under her family's home with her brother in Yamahana in Sapporo.

The topics were varied. We learned a lot more about each other and where we came from. The consensus was that it was fun.