Monday was the first Japanese holiday that we have gotten to celebrate thus far at OCSI. The name of it? Kite Day. Japanese schools were all on holiday so they could go with their families to fly kites. I'm really not sure what the cultural significance of the day is, but it was kind of fun. So I discovered that I don't know how to fly a kite. Sad, I know! Luckily, all my student's parents but two came, so I didn't need to "show-off" my awesome kite flying skills too much.
It was actually a great kite flying day! Moderate winds grabbed the kites and allowed them to soar in the air, well, some of them. I knew that it was going to be a problem when it was time to 'put kites together'. I didn't even know that you 'put kites together'. In my kite naivety I assumed they already came assembled. My second clue that I didn't know what I was getting into was the fact that the assembly directions were in Japanese. Of course they were in Japanese. Luckily, this was not my kid's first Kite Day...they knew how to put kites together.
So my 12 student and I tramped out onto the soccer field. Most of my 12 scattered to find their parents. That left me with two lone rangers to 'assist' in flying a kite. Luckily, one of those lone rangers is a completely independent lone ranger. I would see him every once in a while running past me yelling, "Look, Miss Goodwin, my kite is flying." I looked up and sure enough his kite was high in the sky. The poor student stuck with me... "Ok, GO!" I'd yell. He'd get tangled in his kite string and fall over...and his kite would hit the ground with a sad thump. This went on for the entire hour. Poor kid never got to hold his kite while it flew in the air. What can we do to remedy this? Kite Day will happen again next January so I guess I need to buy a kite...
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