First the Magic Jack is a way to make calls to the US from overseas without paying for international long distance. The Magic Jack is a phone jack that connects to the USB port on your computer. One end is a USB connector and the other end is a phone jack. Once plugged into your computer you can connect a phone and voila! A phone line! A US number you can take anywhere with you!
How does this work? Well, Magic Jack registers itself internally, so once you connect it to a computer in the US and register a US number, that particular device will think it's always in the US no matter what computer you connect it to after that.
What does this mean? This means that John and I will have a US phone number and family and friends can call us (or we can call them) without paying international rates. It will be just like making a long distance phone call in the US.
Cost to me: $19 a year with a $40 fee for the device. I went ahead and prepaid for two years.
Why not use Skype? Because not everyone I know has Skype or is willing to download it.
Second, we found a mail service that will help us maintain a US address. One of the processes of moving is changing your address. There will be about two months between leaving San Diego and arriving in Japan that we will have no permanent address. I could send all the mail to my parent's house (which is what I did for my last move) but two problems...it will be a long time before we will be able to collect it from them and we still may not be able to have some mail shipped to Japan as some places only ship to the US.
I have switched as much as I can to e-statements, but some places just don't allow it and sometimes there's that surprise piece of important mail that shows up an you need it right away.
How does this work? We are given an US address where our mail will be sent. The company will then scan the envelopes of our mail and we have the option to shred it or have it packaged and shipped to us in Japan. Or we can ask them to open it and scan the whole image for our viewing online.
What does this mean? It means we will have a US address where family and friends can send mail so they don't have to worry about international postage. Just remember, it will put about a 2-3 week delay on getting mail to us.
Cost to me: $19/month. It includes receiving 100 pieces of mail a month and I have the option to have them scan up to 25 pieces of mail a month for free.
Is it safe? I did a lot of research on this and signs point to yes. There are no complaints on file for them at the BBB. The site is great and easy to use. There is a background check process for their employees and people using the service now seem satisfied (checked blogs not affiliated with their site).
So, there it is....two ways to make the lives of our friends and family easier while we're in Japan. This also means there's no reason to not say hello to us every now and then. My only piece of advice? Check Google to see what time is in Japan before you call.
For example, right now it's 8:45am on Friday morning in San Diego (10:45 in Huntsville, Alabama or 11:45 on the east coast)....it's 1:45am on Saturday morning in Yokosuka. To find the time in Yokosuka simply Google: "time in Yokosuka" and the Google Machine will bring the information right up!
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