Art By Tali Landsman

This is of course a generalization, but.....As we cycle the streets of Sapporo, I can't help but notice that most of the people I pass do not carry ANY extra fat on their bodies. Older or younger people, trendy and fashion oriented or just street workers wearing overalls, most everyone is thin without an inch of belly fat. Jules and I, who are considered skinny in the USA and NZ, are without a doubt the fattest people on the streets, if you do not count other foreigners. Yes, there are exceptions, and at times I do see heavy young teenage girls, or older businessmen who sit all day in their offices and then drink too much alcohol after work nursing a beer belly, but the majority of the thousands of people that I see every day, are extraordinarily lean. Let me say that this was an eye opener for me, and completely reinforced my belief that neither nutrition nor exercise is the major determining factor in someone's weight. I still believe that both nutrition and exercise matter, ...

Our plane landed late at night in Hokkaido, Japan. We have rented an apartment in Sapporo for two months, but we still had a few days before our Japanese language school was to start. We decided to spend it at Lake Toya, about an hour by train plus a short bus ride up the mountain. The area surrounding Lake Toya was devastated by a volcano in the year 2000, but much of the green, quiet area has recovered since. We spent a few days soaking in the volcanic hot springs, staying in a Ryokan (a traditional Japanese inn) with rooms overlooking the Lake.   Each night during spring, summer and fall, they stage a beautiful display of fireworks over the Lake. We visited a small local museum with a display of great art, took long walks around the Lake, and admired the outdoor sculpture exhibition surrounding the lake, and hiked into the volcanic craters. We enjoyed the hospitality and the food at the Ryokan while getting adjusted to the new time zone and the slower pace of life in unhurried, ...