re-connected!

 As of today, not only do I have internet in my apartment, but I'm also the proud owner of a Japanese smartphone! Now I feel like I can really start living here and stay connected to everybody, both here and back at home in the US. :D

Yesterday I headed downtown to start the cell phone search, and to see if I could get one without my resident card. I went to an electronics store called Yodobashi Camera, on the advice of Satou-san, because they had models from all three major cell phone companies in one spot. As it turns out, smart phones in Japan are ridiculously expensive, as in usually around 50,000 yen (more than $500). I found one I liked, but I figured I should try to look in at least one more place before deciding. So I went to a nearby Docomo store (the provider that I wanted to use) and saw another phone that I liked even better. What's more, it had a sign saying something like '0 yen when you enroll in various options' (but more on that later). Still, since getting a cell phone is a big deal, I decided that I should sleep on it and then go get it if I still wanted it (since it turns out they accept identification other than a resident card).

The rest of the afternoon I spent wandering around and shopping. I discovered that I was right not to let myself go into the Uniqlo near my house, since when I went into another Uniqlo 'just to look' I ended up buying clothes (but they were really on sale!).

This morning, I got up and decided to check if my internet had been activated, like they said it would. I'd gotten my modem yesterday and set it up, but without the line being activated it wasn't worth trying to see if it worked. I thought that a certain light on my modem would have to be on to show that it was activated and when I first checked, it wasn't, but I decided to try plugging in the ethernet anyway and to my surprise, it worked! Having internet in my apartment is ridiculously exciting I do have to plug it into an ethernet (wireless costs extra), but I don't care too much.

I had to leave shortly after discovering I had internet in order to catch the bus downtown (but not before emailing my parents, who apparently hadn't gotten the email I'd sent them from work a few days ago to tell them I was fine), but I was leaving to get my cell phone so I was even more excited! I'd read through the catalogue they gave me yesterday to make sure I knew what I was doing, since I've never entered a cell phone contract in English, let alone in Japanese. The people at the Docomo store were very nice (Japan is awesome when it comes to service), and even gave me tea. It turns out that the phone I'd wanted wasn't actually free, but I liked it a lot more than any others and I figured it was worth the various conditions. And now I have a cell phone! I still haven't played around with it, because it was charging and I was distracted by having internet, but that's what the rest of today (and probably the next few days) is for!

Anyway, so it turns out that I got the two biggest things I wanted in Japan all in one day! I feel a lot more relaxed knowing that now I can call people if I need to, and being able to look things up on the internet is always great! Plus I can update this blog in real time (and not all in one block like I just did), which I'm sure you'll appreciate. :D