Matt Dening, 44, grew up on sunshine in a small beach town south of Sydney. Like most Australian youths, Dening played "all the regular sports — swimming, cricket, rugby — but not really well."
"I never had one sport I was completely interested in, but I was always outdoors and active. My father was a builder, so if I wasn't working outside with him, I was playing sport with my brother."
Yet one sport would change Dening's life, bringing him across the ocean to Japan, where he now serves as managing director of a real estate development/tourism company in Hokkaido's Niseko area.