Yay for the interwebs!

Yesterday, we went out to see about getting fun electronic stuff like a phone and the internet.  Clearly, we succeeded, so now i get to make my very first post from my new home in Kobe.

The flight over wasn't bad-i didn't sleep at all, so as soon as i got here i was out (then i woke up at 2 or 3 and read a couple hours before i went back to sleep).  I church ladies had bought pb&j for me, which was lovely, cause i was starved and really didn't feel like going to the store for food.

Friday, we went to the town hall to register for my foreigner card, but the picture we had of me was the wrong size, so we had to go to a nearby apartment store and search all over the place before we found a little tiny kiosk in the very back corner to take pictures.  then we went back to town hall and finished registering.  it's another several weeks before i can pick up the actual card, but they gave me a copy of the application to get around with (remember that, it's important later).

then, we had lunch at ikea, which was tasty and also located on a man-made island.  Here's a question, why go to all the trouble of moving a mountain into the sea so you have more space to build things, and then leave large areas of it as empty cement lots with weeds growing in the cracks?

most exciting, was getting my phone!  or, trying to get my phone.  apparently, my copy of the foreigner card application wasn't enough, so we had to go back and get a certificate, which we might be able to do before they close.  One slightly nerve-wrecking car ride later, it turns out that town hall closes 15 min later than previously thought, so there's lots of time.  Or not.  The guy at the counter tells us that it'll take to long to make sure the certificate matches all the other information we gave them, so we have to come back another day.  Incidentally, when we did go back, it took the girl all of 5 min to print the certificate...

Saturday I walked around and got a blister on my foot.  Found the post office, which has ATMs, so i get use my debit card.  also found a store called "healthy foods"  it has organic food and other products that are bother good for me and good for the environment.  Speaking of which, during my walking around today, I found some of those little container gardens!  so if they work properly, i'll soon have lettuce and strawberries.  yummy.

Also on sat, i got tasty food from the market.  i'll get more sometime and post a picture.

Sunday they came to put in my air conditioning, which involved drilling holes in my wall... also, the workers came before anyone else showed up to translate, and i showed them where to put the air conditioner all by myself.  yup.  After church we had sushi for lunch and one of the ladies took me shopping.  I got tasty Japanese desserts make with sweet bean paste.

Yesterday we went back to town hall to get the certificate so i could get a phone and internet, then i sat for 1 hour while a salesman explained different plans, etc about my phone and 1.5 hrs while another salesman explained about internet.  i was very tired afterwards.  felt so lazy i didn't even walk home, just took the bus.

Btw, am loving the US economy right now.  dollar/yen ratio is great for anyone interested in paying off college loans  :)

Mostly spent yesterday evening and this morning having fights with my computer trying to sync itunes with my new phone.  also trying to call international so i could tell the credit card people that my card is supposed to be making purchases in japan, could you please not put a restriction on it, thankyouverymuch.  (failed, had to have mom call them for me) (should probably also tell loan people that my mailing address is a bit different now)

Well, looks about bedtime.  Next time i'll post a tour of my apartment.  after i clean it.