Docomo vs. Softbank

I thought my jetlag was getting better. I thought I was returning to my night owl ways. But no. Last night I went to bed at 9:00 (I was trying to look at cell phone plans on the internet and I just fell asleep) and then this morning I woke up at 4:00 IN THE MORNING. I had to try really hard to go back to sleep and I managed to sleep until 6:00. (And by sleep I meant two hours of restless sleep in which I dreamed I was part of a team stealing money from the basement of a building and my weapon was a dog leash.) This is getting serious. I need to resort to caffeine.

All right, now I'll talk about what I meant to write last night before I fell asleep at my computer.

Yesterday was HOT HOT HOT (again). Everyday I've been in Tokyo so far has been above 30 degrees Celsius, and yesterday was no exception. The heat alone is difficult for me to deal with, but it is also extremely humid as well. (Keep this in mind if you plan to visit Tokyo in the summer!)

Since I had registered for my Alien Resident card and for National Health Insurance the day before, I thought it might be a good time to look into getting a cell phone. So I headed over to Takadanobaba bright and early only to find that... all the cell phone shops were still closed!

So I wandered around for an hour in the sweltering heat until the shops opened. The first place I went to was Docomo. As soon as I entered the shop all the employees stood to welcome me. A lady at the shop started taking to me in rapid Japanese, so I haltingly said that I was a foreign exchange student and my Japanese was not good. She shuffled me off to the first counter and as I sat, so did all the employees.

The woman at the counter spoke to me in rapid Japanese. I stared at her blankly. She spoke more Japanese. Stare. She pulled out a folder and showed me "Foreign Language Customer Inquiries". I was trying to explain to her that I didn't have a cell phone, so it would be difficult for me to call when she pulled out a phone from behind the desk and called. Then she passed the phone to me. I was greeted by an English speaking employee. We spent the next hour slowly going over the plan with me speaking in Emglish into the phone, and then passing the phone to the representative who talked to the employee in Japanese. After an hour I had a pretty good idea of the plans, but I still had no idea which one I wanted. Should I get the one with e-mail and get a good deal on sending "packets"? Or should I get the one with "communication allowances" which allows me to talk for up to 25 minutes for free?

I had no idea. So I told the English voice that I wasn't sure what plan I wanted to go with yet, and that I needed time to think about it. I said I wanted to ask my friends what kind of plans they had.

"Are you friends with Docomo?"

"Ah, yes." (I said although I had no clue.)

"So will you come back later?"

"Um, maybe... I mean probably."

"Later today?"

"Uh yeah... I just need to talk with my friends about it."

I passed the phone to the eager Japanese representative and slowly saw her face fall. I felt like I had done something very cruel and I tried to remind myself that I needed to know more about the plans before I made a decision. As I left the representative and I bowed at each other several times before I made it to the door of the shop and freedom.

Later in the day I went to visit Softbank. I heard that there was a Softbank shop in either Harajuku or Shibuya that spoke English, so I went in intending to ask how to get to the shop. But once I entered I was prompted to choose a ticket. "New Contract" and "Payment" were the only buttons I understood (because they provided the English translation). So I pushed "New Contract". I sat waiting for a while, wondering if I could just ask someone where the English speaking shop was, but then I thought "Oh maybe there's someone here who can speak English and I don't need to go all the way to Shibuya". So I waited. An employee came over to me to greet me and I asked if he understood English in Japanese. "すこし" (a little), he answered.

I decided to forge ahead in Japanese "I'm a foreign exchange student... so... I need a cell phone."

He spoke to me in rapid Japanese. I stared.

I wondered why, after giving such a halting sentence, he spoke so quickly. Didn't I just show to him how bad my Japanese was?

He looked at my blank expression and repeated what he just said, at the same speed.

No response.

A woman nearby took pity on us and translated "He wants to know if you want pre-paid or monthly."

"Thank you! Oh, umm monthly"

The employee smile and nodded. He spoke to me in more Japanese, and showed me some pictures on the iPad he was carrying. The pictures looked like official documents, so I brought out the papers that they had asked for at Docomo. He smiled and nodded. He asked if I had a credit card, and I said that I did.

He left and I waited a bit longer.

My number was called, so I went up to the counter. I asked the employee if he understood English:

"英語が分かりますか？"

"英語..." He looked away, as if in thought. Then shook his head slightly, apologetically.

Well, there was no turning back now.

"I'm a foreign exchange student, so I need a cell phone." I explained again in Japanese.

He showed me the list of necessary documents. I took them out for them. But as I was taking out my Health Insurance Card I realized that I had left my credit card at home.

Whoops.

He asked if I had a credit card now, and I said that I didn't. He looked troubled and tried to explain to me that I need a credit card to sign the contract. I tried to explain that I just want to know about the plans now, and I can sign the contract later. But he looked at me blankly.

Finally I just said in English, very slowly "Can you explain to me about the phone plans now? Because I don't know anything about the plans. Then I can come back with my credit card and sign a contract later." This, apparently, was sufficient because he began to explain the plans.

Slowly in my broken Japanese and his few English words, we managed to go over the plans. I had a fairly good understanding, but I still didn't undersand how much the phones cost to buy. He kept on showing me what it would be for a 2-year plan and I had to remind him constantly that I won't be in Japan for 2 years.  It was as if he thought that by showing me how cheap the 2-year plan was, I would decide to stay in Japan for two years. Sorry, but I need to graduate. And my visa will expire.

I was trying to ask him how much the phones were, but it just became more and more confusing. Finally he grabbed another employee and explained the situation. The employee turned and stared at me. Then he spoke to me in English. It looked as if each word had to be forced out of his mouth with great effort. I felt uncomfortable.

The employee that had been helping me apologized and skittered off.

Any progress that I'd made had vanished. I had to explain my situation again, in a combination of broken Japanese and English. Although my native language is English, I found it more difficult to speak to this employee in English than to the other one in Japanese. I tried speaking to the employee in Japanese, but he kept talking to me in English and it made it increasingly difficult for me to think of how to say things in Japanese. Finally I gave up and spoke in very slow English. But still, I couldn't get him to understand what my question was. In he end I accepted that I probably would never be able to find the answers I wanted through this employee. I'll check the website when I get home I told myself.

"Uh, I don't know which plan I want to choose yet, and I don't have my credit card with me. Can I come back later to sign a contact?"

"When? Tomorrow?"

"Um.. yeah.. tomorrow." I thanked him and left the shop as quickly as I could.

I felt like I was two-timing. I tried to consol myself with the fact that I wouldn't every have to return to the company that I didn't choose... although it made me a bit uncomfortable to realize that both of the shops I visited were on my way to school. 

When I got home and looked at the websites for each company I realized that they had English sites explaining the plans. Although I still wasn't able to figure out the things I was confused about. Maybe I should just go to Shibuya.