May has been a very busy month, for both skydiving and otherwise.
The beginning of the month featured AFFI and I/E courses.
Last week, I brought two friends along to do some tandem skydiving. It’s always great to get reactions of what skydiving is from someone who has never done it before. The first time adrenaline was invigorating and their high made me feel good too.
The next day I had a wedding to attend so no diving that day.
This week, I met two new faces.
The first is an American skydiver who came to Japan on a military base up in the northern part of Tohoku, which is a ways away. She will be stationed there for 3 years and hopes to come jump in Tokyo about once a month. She had to do a re-currency jump, but achieved number 100 today. Congrats!
The second was a first jump AFF student. She is an unemployed single-mom who moved from Tokyo to be closer to the DZ. Her plan is to become a skydiving instructor down the line. Talking to her was refreshing and motivating. It made remember that for most of us, skydiving isn’t solely about the freefall experience, although that is pretty awesome. It’s also culmination of life experiences that drive us to do something as crazy as falling out of an aircraft. We all have our own stories, and at the drop zone, they intersect.
I wonder what kinds of stories I will hear next.
freefall tokyo 