Things were going badly until one of the interviewers started asking questions in Japanese. Actually, he only got through one question before he abandoned it completely. Thereafter, things nosedived sharply.
This was my shot at the big time. No more car crash clips. No more dancing dogs, or interminable searches for third-party rights holders to nature documentary footage. This was a job in news.
There was a quiz to kick things off. Just to get started. Amongst others, I couldn't answer who the current Prime Minister of Japan is. I went with cheek, charm and humour instead: 'There have been so many changes recently, I've lost track'. Yes, Guy. You might not know the answer, but you bloody well know the background to it!
The English interviewer scanned through my answers and said not to worry, there were only a few he'd be really worried if I'd gotten wrong. 'Actually', he said, looking closer at my answer script, and frowning slightly.
He didn't wave me off at the door, returning to his desk instead and leaving me to gibber through some small talk with the two Japanese interviewers, in pigeon Japanese.
I left the building and started walking with no direction whatsoever. At first I felt giddy that at least I had a story to tell, but when the full weight of what I'd just tossed away came to bear, a different kind of feeling sank and settled.
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