Uh-oh, Bunny has a keitai!?
Okay, so I've gone and caved. I officially have a cellphone now.
Last year, it wasn't such a big deal that I didn't have one, because I didn't know a lot of people. This year, I know more people and, also, I plan to go on more trips. If you go on trips and you're not in the same area as the other people, it's hard to meet up without a phone.
Cellphone plans in Japan are really bad, though. I mean, I only get 25 free outgoing minutes for one month. All incoming calls are free, though. Also, instead of text-messaging, they have e-mail, so I can get e-mails from anybody to my cellphone.
I'm not actually sure if I signed up for the e-mail package or not. If you're not on the package, it's 3 yen for every 200 English characters or every 100 Japanese characters. If you're on the package, it's about 50,000 free e-mails for 1000 yen a month. I think that I didn't, though, because I only see the monthly charge listed. If I do more than 333 messages in one month, it's worth it to get the extra plan, but at the moment, I don't know that I will since I have normal internet at home and stuff!
I'm paying a little more than I'd like to a month. It's a bit cheaper than my plan in the States, but it's about 3,000 yen (a little less than $30 USD). I went with DoCoMo because they had the same prices as AU. SoftBank was pretty cheap (only 980 yen per month!!), but they make you buy the cellphone, so you pay 2,000 yen or more every month toward the cellphone price, which means that they are at least as expensive as the other two companies. It's free to call anyone with a SB plan from 1 a.m.-9p.m., but I don't know anybody who has SB. Everyone has AU or DoCoMo (I wish you got free phone to phone or could pay a monthly rate to do that, though; if they did, I would have gotten AU).
The nice thing about getting DoCoMo is that my neighbor went to Junior High School with the grandmother of the person who sold us the phone, and so he gave us a big discount! You have to pay a little bit for the phone, but it's at a discount, unlike SB, which is full price. So, for example, the cheapest phone is 3,000 yen. You also have to buy the battery for it. He gave me both of these for free! Also, after he showed us the first page of the cheapest phones, he also showed me a Motorola Razor (which may have cost a little more) that I could also have for free. So I didn't have to pay for my phone. I'm so happy that I went with my neighbor and had him!♥♥♥
I picked the Motorola phone because there is a (small) chance it'll work back in the States. If not, maybe someone will know how to crack it...*innocent*
Luckily, they had a manual in English to give me, so I can figure out how to use the phone despite it being in Japanese!
Last year, it wasn't such a big deal that I didn't have one, because I didn't know a lot of people. This year, I know more people and, also, I plan to go on more trips. If you go on trips and you're not in the same area as the other people, it's hard to meet up without a phone.
Cellphone plans in Japan are really bad, though. I mean, I only get 25 free outgoing minutes for one month. All incoming calls are free, though. Also, instead of text-messaging, they have e-mail, so I can get e-mails from anybody to my cellphone.
I'm not actually sure if I signed up for the e-mail package or not. If you're not on the package, it's 3 yen for every 200 English characters or every 100 Japanese characters. If you're on the package, it's about 50,000 free e-mails for 1000 yen a month. I think that I didn't, though, because I only see the monthly charge listed. If I do more than 333 messages in one month, it's worth it to get the extra plan, but at the moment, I don't know that I will since I have normal internet at home and stuff!
I'm paying a little more than I'd like to a month. It's a bit cheaper than my plan in the States, but it's about 3,000 yen (a little less than $30 USD). I went with DoCoMo because they had the same prices as AU. SoftBank was pretty cheap (only 980 yen per month!!), but they make you buy the cellphone, so you pay 2,000 yen or more every month toward the cellphone price, which means that they are at least as expensive as the other two companies. It's free to call anyone with a SB plan from 1 a.m.-9p.m., but I don't know anybody who has SB. Everyone has AU or DoCoMo (I wish you got free phone to phone or could pay a monthly rate to do that, though; if they did, I would have gotten AU).
The nice thing about getting DoCoMo is that my neighbor went to Junior High School with the grandmother of the person who sold us the phone, and so he gave us a big discount! You have to pay a little bit for the phone, but it's at a discount, unlike SB, which is full price. So, for example, the cheapest phone is 3,000 yen. You also have to buy the battery for it. He gave me both of these for free! Also, after he showed us the first page of the cheapest phones, he also showed me a Motorola Razor (which may have cost a little more) that I could also have for free. So I didn't have to pay for my phone. I'm so happy that I went with my neighbor and had him!♥♥♥
I picked the Motorola phone because there is a (small) chance it'll work back in the States. If not, maybe someone will know how to crack it...*innocent*
Luckily, they had a manual in English to give me, so I can figure out how to use the phone despite it being in Japanese!