Cannot connect to internet with ethernet cord.. Have tried MANY things. please help!!!

So I just moved to Japan and cannot connect my laptop (inspiron 1420) into the internet at school via an ethernet cord. I can get wifi perfectly fine at home, but the school I work at only uses ethernet cords, and for some reason my laptop wont connect to the internet using the cord. Here is what it is showing me and what Ive tried:

-the ethernet jack has a red and blinking orange light next to it. since its blinking and appears to work, im assuming the actual jack works fine

-the device manager says: network adapters, broadcom 802.11 g network adapter and broadcom netlink (TM) fast ethernet. both of them are working fine.. i ran updates to see if i needed to install updates, but both of them are using the most up to date drivers

-i am physically connected to the network, i just cant receive the internet. so in the network and connection center, there is a blue line from my computer to the network. but a red X from the network to the internet. so im actually connected to the internet.. theres just something wrong with the connection to internet

-when i click the red X, i receive a message that says: DNS server cannot be found because look up failed. I changed the DNS server to the universal DNS address, 4.2.2.2. abd 4.1.1.1. but still no luck. It says that network diagnostics pinged the host, but did not get a response.

-i tried changing the country that im in from USA to Japan. still not working

-i tried changing the link and duplex settings in the LAN properties to 100 bit duplex. still not working.

pleeeeeease let me know if anyone can think of something else i can try. its such a hassle not to have internet at work and i really need it. also, if anyone knows of somewhere else i should go to ask for help, let me know. keep in mind i dont have a phone yet so i cant call DELL support and going to all the computer help stores in japan wouldnt work since i dont speak japanese...

thanks in advance! i really appreciate any advice.