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
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