One of the 課長 from the 役場 just came into the office and talked at length with me and my supervisor about 国際交流
Apart from putting me in a socially awkward position by taking the mickey out of やこちゃん, he tried to convince me that the Japanese intestine is longer than the 外人 one, which is why the traditional Japanese diet is more vegetarian (and proposed it as a theory why i have become vegetarian - due to eating lots of Japanese food, which has obviously made my intestine longer). This was based on a theory (which i believe) that as human intestines are comparitively long for the animal kingdom, we are naturally more suited to a vegetarian diet.
Anyway, thanks to mutant frog for starting to clear up some of the 日本人論 issues and allowing me to leave the computer and live a bit more of my wintry existence!
(why don't we hibernate, by the way?)

Incidentally, if that guy hadn't come into the office, i might have actually got some work done...