I can”t remember the last time I tried to fly a kite. I guess it was at least 8 years ago and, given that I haven”t tried again since, it probably all ended in tears. However, after seeing so many of our students playing with these kite-like contraptions they”ve making in their design class, I was willing to put these painful childhood memories behind me and once again take to the skies. This time there would be no mistakes…

Step One: Acquire Kite
Let’’s face it, making a kite from scratch may provide a short-term sense of self-satisfaction but, when it comes down to it, homemade kites suck. We”ve all been there; after hours of cutting, gluing and colouring, your childhood dreams are suddenly crushed when you discover that your new kite is about as aerodynamic as a sock. Being a man of experience, I took a no-nonsense approach and headed straight to the campus shop to buy a high-quality pre-made kite for the very reasonable price of 8RMB (that’’s 50p to you folks back home).

Step Two: Acquire Co-pilot
Solo kite flying is dangerous and that’’s a fact. Should anything happen to me, Yuki assured me she would take command.

Final Step: Locate suitable Launch Site
After scouting the school extensively, we decided that the ideal launch site would be the running track near our apartment.

First Attempt: Sabotage
Our first attempt at flying our kite was ruined by human interference - our string was literally stolen by an old lady.

Second Attempt: Minor setback
It’’s almost too cliche for words but… our kite got stuck in a tree.

Third Attempt: Disaster!
We got a little too confident and crash landed on top of the student’’s dormitory building. Our kite-flying days were numbered.

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