“I see you are using a 35 millimeter lens. That one usually makes my nose look bigger!”

“I am a volunteer for an organization called the ‘Kindertelefoon.’ It’s an organization which offers kids a phone line they can call with whatever question they have. Sometimes they call to talk about things such as their sexuality, problems at school, cyber bullying and sometimes they just want to talk about their day.”
“What is the most important quality such a volunteer should have?”
“Whenever a child comes to you with their problem, most of the time they expect you to hand them an instant fix. As a volunteer you should never push them towards a certain solution, even if they want you to. Instead, your conversation needs to stimulate and facilitate the child into finding the solution to their problem all by themselves.”

“He has a big passion for street food so I bought him these as a joke. I was a bit scared he wouldn’t understand it. Instead he said: You should have gotten the one with the hamburgers as well!”

As some of you might have noticed I´m attending Amsterdam fashion week this year. While I stood at the entrance of the event I noticed this Italian couple sitting on the side steps being highly entertained by the crowd. When I walked up to them and asked them for their photograph they were perplexed. They barely spoke any Dutch nor English but the little man gave me a big smile which I assumed was a yes. While I took their photo he strongly held on to the balloons. I suspect he was keeping them for a granddaughter or son. Though we couldn’t really communicate I tried to explain them why I took their photo. I’m pretty sure they didn’t understood a word I was saying but the man kissed my hand and kept saying: Graci! Graci! I tried to give the woman a hand but she ignored and instead gave me a big hug and then she pinched my cheeks.