Amsterdam Love/Hate

The kicks the kicks the kicks, it's the kids that give me the kicks.



Yesterday, after a long flight from NYC, I went straight into a LOVE/HATE project.
My Amsterdam kid-connect Chakra, hooked me up with 4 girls & 5 boys 15-17 years old, from Amsterdam, to talk about what they love & hate about Amsterdam...here are some of what they had to say...
Menno [16 years old]
"I love...Riding my scooter fast...Amsterdam coffee shops & the red light district...Weed is cool to, I do that as well!
I hate...There's too many cops always telling us we can't hang out & always breaking us up"
Lorenzo [17 yo]
"I Love...Amsterdam's multi-culturalism. There's always something to do, everything's open til late. I hate the canals & old houses, other people love 'em, but they're boring!"
Adam [16 yo]
"I love being on the scooter, it's so free...In Amsterdam, everyone's different. It's the perfect place for me, it's where I'm from. It's cool when I'm on holiday somewhere, & someone asks where I'm from. When I tell them Amsterdam they say, 'Oh!! where there's weed you can smoke legally?!'. That's cool, I'm proud of that...I think it's the only country in the world where you can do that. How cool is that!?
I tried it a couple of months ago when I turned 16. I HAD to, you have to at least try it!"
Naomi [17 yo]
"I love the city because it's so busy & people are so cool & fashionable. You can do anything here.
Amsterdam is my city, there's nothing I don't like!"
Cas [16 yo]
"I do a lot in Amsterdam. I love tuning up my scooter & going fast. My scooter can now do 80! when I go that fast, I just feel free. I don't really get up to much apart from the scooter & playing classical music. I play love sometimes with my teacher & a DJ.
I love that in Amsterdam, you can do what you want. I love that! It's being FREE!
But I really hate the traffic police..They don't like young kids & are always stopping us on our scooters."
Chenna [15 yo]
"Well, I'm half Dutch & half Brasilian so what I love about Amsterdam are the different cultures. You can be so open to show what you like or don't like."