It may sound as if all went well, but it did not. After all, I paid more (?) than most people. I also paid a high tuition fee. I show you the three examples of failures one by one.

　When I returned from San Diego in 1977 after a six-month short-term study abroad program, I was frustrated that I had very few chances to use spoken English. Just as I was thinking that I would like to study abroad again if I could, there was a company that was recruiting international students with the pretense that if they passed the study abroad exam, they could study abroad without paying any fees.

　I paid several thousand yen to take the test. As a result, I received a notice that I would only have to pay 100,000 yen to study abroad, and I paid the 100,000 yen. It was a fraudulent act that skillfully used the examination system.

　It was true that they were sending out the Japanese students, but there was no way that the money they collected in this way could be used to run the company and take care of the students. This kind of a bicycle operation would never work. A few months after the exam notification, when the students who had been sent out were to return to Japan, they still had not received their return tickets from the company, which caused a huge uproar and was picked up by TV and radio, and became the focus of criticism. The ringleader was a man named Fujita, and if he were still alive today he might be repeating his "life of deceiving”.

　The 100,000 yen at that time was a big blow and I will never forget it, because it was right after I left the salaried life and started my work. I will never forget it. It means that we must not fall for a sweet story.

Serially posted again in English on Tuesdays every other week.

隔週で火曜日に英語で連載再開中

Please refer to the following site for the pictures and/or references.

https://www.facebook.com/ElectricitySavingNo.1