Things I forgot to say

Well, I'm about to head out for Kyoto to see Ginakakuji. It was nice to sleep in this morning, and I'm looking forward to some leisurely sigthseeing.

When I was coming home from Saho's house last night, there were newspaper people handing out free extra editions. Turns our the "Japanese OJ Simpson" committed suicide in Los Angeles. It seems to be a big deal here, although I had never heard of him before. Luckily, the news articles were printed in both Japanese and English, so I was able to figure out what all the fuss was about.

And some more things about yesterday that I forgot to mention:

• Turns out Saho's brother really likes The Beatles. Yay! That was exciting. He said his favorite song is "Something," but that George Harrison isn't necessarily his favorite. That was a cool connection to make. ^_^
• As part of the salad we made, we included 春雨 (haru same--"hah-roo sah-may"), a kind of really thin, clear noodle. They were okay; not as goood as udon, if you ask me. But what I really like is the name. Literally, it means "spring rain." Okaasan (it means "mom"--Saho's mother) explained that the name comes from the way the noodles look when you hold them up and down. They're long and clear, so it looks like rain falling from the sky. Super evocative! I love it. The verdict? So-so on taste, but totally awesome on creativity!
• As my obligatory bug reference for the day, I'll leave you with this. Saho's family seems to really like pets: they have a cat, two birds, and some fish. Also, they have a chrysalis that they're growing into a butterfly! It's attached to one of those little plastic tanks you keep hermit crabs in. I think that's really cool. It was probably a school project for her little sister or something, I'm not sure. But I thought that was neat. I want to grow a butterfly.