Kim Bagley
I'm a South African Student on Exchange in Japan... I packed a ski jacket, surfboard and a pair of Chopsticks... I didn't bring previous knowledge of the language. We'll see where that leads me. Blondgirl
Since Japan I've been an ordinary SA student just plodding along making ceramics and getting a chance to see a bit of the world when I can.
Travel Blog Posts
July 28th 2008
Life has been crazy busy since my latest trip... At last I have a few spare moments to shout about my latest escapade. I'm done with varsity for the year so I have a few days before the usual retail crush begins. tis the season for making money! This is the first of a few entries about my ceramic escapades in East Africa. A few months back I escaped to Kenya with some other mud people to build a wood-fired kiln and go to a conference in Nairobi. Kenya is warm - the people and the weather. We flew in over the Nairobi National park and already I could see the extremes of Kenya - vast open spaces right next to a busy city and large colonial era houses against simpler breeze-block dwellings. At the airport ... read more
February 7th 2007
Due to popular demand, reminisces from various family members and friends (“remember the days when your blogs used to save us from utter boredom, Kim” - and all that jazz) and just plain nagging, my blog is back. Thanks for stroking my ego, guys. I would love to say I have been having some life-endangering, blood-curdling adventures in mid-south-western-Scandinavia, but that would be a lie. Hmmmm…Well, I have been gading about my own country for a bit. I went to see all the animals at Hluhluwe/Imfolozi game reserve with my parents and younger sister in July. Saw 13 lions, a heap of impala and zebra, a few rhino and lots of elephants. The latter of whom we were actually way too close for comfort. After placidly watching a herd of Ellies moving through a ravine next ... read more
The great "TADAIMA"!!!! Minami Afurica ni Kaemashta, yo!
Published: June 6th 2006Africa » South Africa » KwaZulu-Natal » Durban
June 6th 2006
“I can’t stand to fly; I’m not that naïve…” Listening to Five for Fighting in front of the old-style convex computer monitor with a dialup internet connection is very strange. “It’s not easy to be me...” Well, I suppose it is all relative. I have been avoiding writing this last blog for 2 days already. It has not been difficult to do so, seeing as I had to fight with the silly modem to even check email never mind bluthering on my blog about being Japan-sick! Yes, I am missing my beautiful islands already, but there was no greater feeling than being able to pick out South Africans waiting to catch the same plane home from Singapore. Unique and rather weird bunch… Ooh! And being offered rooibos on the plane (not that I drink rooibos or ... read more
May 27th 2006
On Wednesday this week I was down in Wakayama again, and it was awesome. My board has provided me with a couple of opportunities to travel alone into the heart of 'real' Japan. Despite the less than epic surf the people I have met or just observed and the views I have seen make up for that... Plus, the cost surf gear here is through the roof. We in SA are lucky. Don't forget that! .... Ja, to travel alone is a very interesting and liberating experience. Really forces me to use this language I am learning coz there is no one there to save my butt if I need help. Plus I think a single foreigner is less intimidating than a group of 3 or 4, so you get to meet interesting people.... That's what ... read more
May 17th 2006
Apologies for my long absence from this particular platform of expression, but I have been engaged in expressing myself in other such manners... The kitchen for example. MOre about that later. On a light (and "moohaha") note... Nihongo no curasu ga nai. (trans - no more bleeding japanese classes left!). Yep, my semester in Japan is over - from an academic point of view. So, now I'm just floating about entertaining myself (and taking care of a lot of paperwork - I thought there was a lot to get in here, but getting out is even more of a mission) and will continue to do so until they kick me off this island. Just before the nitty gritty part of the semester (ie last week) I was in Tokyo with the usual suspects. WE HAD A ... read more
April 27th 2006
Howdy y'all! Title en anglais roughly correlates to "sorry, bin working my *rse orf"... well, not literally, dunno how to be too complicated in Japanese.... But I'm getting better everyday. It's amazing how much I have learnt in 4ish months. Or rather, it's amazing how much less of a fool I make of myself in public. Go me. Ja, so I have had more than enough to do at "school" over the past coupla weeks. No matter where you are in the world, the last few weeks of the semester have this irritating way of creeping up on you and spewing work all over the place in volumes barely bearable by a ten tonne truck. (My dorm room would be a good visual metaphor for this right now... battling to see my tatami -too- -much- paper-). ... read more
April 19th 2006
I think one can say one has lived in a place for long enough when you know of better night spots to go to than locals in their own city... Yep, I think I am officially a Hirakata-ite! On saturday night we celebrated Jacqui (Aussie) 's birthday in true Japanese style with a jovial visit to my favourite Karaoke place (after some chuhai consumtion in the park - which is legal in Japan). It dawned on me that I am pretty much completely assimilated into life in this odd lil city. Light bulb illumination point 1: A japanese friend who was out with us crazy international students on saturday night was introduced to the best cheap karaoke place in Hirakata by yours truly, moment of light bulb illumination 2: showing Japanese students where the bathrooms are ... read more
April 9th 2006
Saturday was yet another example of how crazy the Japanese are, and how much more crazy the rest of the world is. My archi class and prof traipsed through Kyoto station top to bottom east to west in an effort to rip its architectural value to shreds. It is possibly the most stupidly designed building in Japan!!!!!!!! This is where you can't use the term: "not just a pretty face". It's only a pretty face. or at least a moderately pretty one. Then we zenned out at Daitokuji (spelling wa yokuarimasen) temple complex. Zenning out consists of taking notes about tea rooms, snapping a million research photographs, AND relaxing on the stoep of one of the most famous gardens in Japan, being served tea and cake, and just generally being slow, relaxed and self indulgent! Then, ... read more
April 5th 2006
Who would have thought that I would pay money (voluntarily) to consume foamy green stuff and a pink thing that looks like an overgrown moth ball? And who would have thought that I might actually like it! Yep, for those in the know, I finally tried Mocha. Mocha is the foamy green tea that is used in tea ceremonies, and the mothball thingy is a delicious cake that accompanies it. The tea is bitter and has foam sorta like a cappucino... only green and without dairy products involved. It's sakura time in Japan. Think anticapation, excitement, special weather forecasts, people keeping a constant eye on the 'terebi' and the paper, and a general air of festivity. Tents are being errected, parties planned, sake purchased, and festive markets held. So what's all this about, you ask??? And ... read more
March 26th 2006
Not wanting to waste a moment of my dwindling spring break, yesterday I returned to Kyoto (once again with shopping as the primary attraction) and what a contrast it was from the snow of Mount Myoko! Apart from the obvious lack of white stuff everywhere, the biggest difference was the number of American and European tourists floating about! Every second person we walked past in Kyoto was tall, fair skinned and speaking english! This was very strange coming from the english free zone I have been in this week. One would think that this would be a relief, and a good thing, but to be honest, being a "domestic" tourist in the Japan Alps was much more fun. Sure, it's frustrating to be as literate as a pre schooler and to be limited to communication on ... read more
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