TASTE OF ITALY

Kaitaia teenager Alice Yuretich, now four months into her year in France, has more stories to tell about the perils of mixing languages, and a brief taste of Italy.

I've been having an absolutely amazing time here. My French has improved a lot and I understand pretty much everything I hear. In saying that, though, my English has slightly worsened. I've started accidentally using French words while speaking English, or translating French expressions which we don't use into English.

My French friends have found lots of ways to make good use of my English though because it's in fashion here. There are English slogans on advertisements and clothes, and practically all the popular songs are also in English, even though almost no-one understands it.

One of my friends had me translate all the English slogans she had written on her T-shirts. Some of them, such as 'make the boys cry', are absolutely hilarious.

Another thing I've been asked to do on multiple occasions is translate English songs into French. Luckily teenagers listen to the same songs and artists as is New Zealand, so I already know most of the lyrics, but it's still extremely difficult with some of the fast songs. It's also interesting that they never censor swear words in English songs when playing them in shops or on the radio.

I've had some very interesting conversations about music.

People always ask me if I know particular singers, or if we listen to them in New Zealand. It's hard to know sometimes because they say artists' names in a thick accent. I was asked if I know "gcg". I tried to figure out who they could mean before finally giving up and saying I didn't. They proceeded to play me one of her songs and I immediately realised they meant Jesse J.

I find it quite entertaining trying to decipher which artist they are talking about. Pete Boole was Pitbull, crease-bron was Chris Brown and Aday was Adele.

I spent a week without any contact with English speakers during the last school holidays. There is a holiday programme called UCPA, which provides all sorts of outdoor activities. I did 'leisure activities', which included all sorts of things ranging from beach soccer and volleyball to windsurfing. I went alone so my aunty ensured that my cellphone was loaded with all the numbers I could possibly need in case of emergency, or just in case I just had a question about the French language.

On the second day, however, I accidentally locked my phone and couldn't use it for the rest of the week. Because there were no computers there either I was truly and utterly cut off from English.

But it was an amazing experience all the same. I was in a room with three other girls the same age as me and in my group for activities there were a whole range of people between 13 and 17. Everyone was extremely nice and I'm still in contact with a lot of them.

Pizza heavenI spent a week in Italy for my birthday, staying with my cousin, Adrian, and his girlfriend Mia, who are flatting there. It was absolutely amazing to see all the places you hear and read about, and I had the best time.

One of my favourite things was the food, because I've always loved pizza and pasta, but in Italy the quality and taste is just amazing. I even bought a book on pizza, which is full of different recipes and how to make them.

Another outstanding food there was the gelato, which we ended up eating almost every day, and which they have in more flavours than you can imagine. I played it safe the first day getting chocolate, vanilla and mint, but by the end of the week I'd also tried melon, cherry, and some bizarre mixes which were so strange that I can't even remember what was in them.

I also got to try tiramisu for the first time, and quickly fell in love with it. And I got quite a surprise when I bought an Italian hot chocolate; they're extremely thick, and it seemed to me exactly like what you'd have if you melted hot chocolate mousse into a very thick liquid.

I saw all the main touristy sites, from the Colosseum to Saint Peter's Basilica, and walked all around the smallest country in the world, the Vatican City.

But, in all honesty, I preferred the less crowded and more truly Italian places, such as the small markets and family-run restaurants.

We also visited a beach in Rome, which was a total culture shock for me. To start off with it was about an hour by train to get there, and then you could barely even see the beach through all the buildings that were lined up all along it. You couldn't get on to the beach without paying, and it ended up costing us €9 each, which covered the entry fee and also gave you a sun chair to lie on.

The 'beach' was about 50 square metres of sand leading down to the water, which was boxed in on both sides by little rooms which you can rent to store your belongings. These bare concrete rooms, each about two square metres, didn't even have a light in them, and cost the equivalent of around $3000 for the season.

The side that wasn't enclosed by water or huts was a café with a large deck covered with tables and chairs. There were about 100 or so umbrellas spread at regular intervals close to the water, and over 100 (it was a very quiet day) lounging around on the sand. On top of this there were multiple guys walking around with bracelets, bags, towels, umbrellas, food and various other items, trying in vain to sell their wares to whoever would take them.

I'll appreciate our beaches much, much more now.

Switzerland nextI've now moved in with a French family who live just west of Paris. They're moving to America in September or December for three years so they've asked me to do a little bit of English with their three children. I'll also be accompanying the children to Switzerland for two weeks to visit their grandmother, and then staying for a month in Spain because the mother's Spanish. I can't wait!

I'm having lots of fun in the meantime though. The first week I spent with them I joined the local girls' soccer team, and also tried out two judo lessons. The judo proved to be in a class which is over 50 per cent black belts and 100 per cent boys. Add to this the fact that it was my first time and I don't speak fluently and you're left with a fairly embarrassing couple of classes.

Everyone was extremely nice though, and I had six black belts all helping me at once during the first lesson, so I ended up having an awesome time, even if I was hopeless.

Yesterday we went into Paris to go shopping because they have huge sales on at the moment. Apparently in France you're only allowed to have 'soldes' during particular times of the year. During this time practically every single shop has substantial sales on. Luckily for me the next three weeks are one of those times, so I'm planning another outing very soon.