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Joyce Siu

Name: Mourad Latoui

Age: 17

City/ Country: Algiers/Algeria

Name of school: INPS (National Institute of Planning and Statistics)

Star sign: Gemini

Algiers is a  busy and charming coastal city  with many historical and tourist spots.

The architecture is an amazing mix of old Turkish houses,  classical French buildings and modern high-rises.

The weather here is very pleasant. Winters  are never really cold and summers are rarely extremely hot.

I study planning and statistics. It  is a mix of mathematics and general statistics, but it also involves languages (French and English), geography, economics, computer science and law.

My school life is  really busy. With all my projects, exams and revision, I   don't have much time to relax.

I  have to get good marks this year, otherwise I won't be able to choose  the subjects I want to study next year.

I  have two mother-tongue languages. I was raised speaking both Arabic and French.

I'm currently learning English which is  now my favourite language and I  hope I'll master it soon.

I used to go to the movies  or swimming with my friends  when I was  at high school.

But  because of my busy schedule this year, I can't see them very often.  We just talk on phone or  have lunch together on campus.

In my free time, I sleep! I know  this sounds  lazy, but I am so tired from school, and  I don't  have a hobby such as sport  or  music anyway.

My resolution for 2007  was to do something useful  in my spare time. I haven't managed that yet.

When I was younger,  we used to go to Spain for our summer holidays. We also went  to Greece once. But  these days we usually just go to the beach.

My parents are divorced and I live with my  mum. I  have  an elder brother.  We get along  really since we are  close in age.  I usually get on  quite well with both my parents.

I don't have enough time to go home for lunch, so I eat fast food  such as sandwiches, pizza, shish kebabs or hamburgers and fries with a lot of mayonnaise and ketchup.

My mum's a pretty good cook. She  prepares dinner most of time, but when she's not home,  I'm a great eggs scrambler!

I like comfy and practical clothes such as  jeans and sporty shoes.

I'm not a fashion victim -   I'm happy as long as my clothes fit me.

I buy my own clothes twice a year in a single shopping trip -  I'm not really into shopping.

Like all teenagers, I don't think I get enough pocket money. But my mum pays for everything, even  when I go out with my friends, so I can't really complain.

I was also lucky enough to  get a scholarship for my university studies.

I  don't know if I can be objective about myself.  I'd say I'm  funny, open-minded, cultured, tolerant, curious and shy.

But sometimes I'm impatient and I can get  easily annoyed at people.  I can be moody,  sometimes I'm a little bit selfish  and  I can be greedy. But at least I'm honest!

I'm not sure about  what I want to do in the future.  I'd like to  work as a palaeontologist (a scientist who studies fossils)  one day, but I won't  be able to do that with what I'm currently studying. Maybe I'll just keep it as a  hobby.

But  I do know that I want to travel  around the world.

The most important festival for Algerians is 'mouloud'.

It's a religious feast and we celebrate it by preparing a family dinner, lighting candles and  setting off firecrackers and fireworks. Somewhat ironically, these are all made in China!

If you want to make friends with teens from other countries, send an e-mail to yp.epal@scmp.com. Sunday Young Post will forward all e-mails to Mourad.



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