1 . Volunteering has changed over these past few years and virtual volunteering is here to stay! Find your perfect remote opportunity by becoming a Sense Virtual Buddying volunteer.

The Role of a Virtual Buddy (朋友)

Sense matches volunteers with disabled people who have similar interests to ensure you’ll have lots of fun together. Once matched with a buddy, you will get to know each other remotely through video calls, phone calls, texting, emails or letters. You’ll arrange weekly sessions and plan fun things to do together. You could be gaming, doing arts and crafts, playing music, planting - there are so many possibilities! We will provide you with weekly themed activities to help to support you in planning your interactions with your buddy.

What We Can Offer You

Before you start your volunteering role, we’ll make sure that you’ve had the training you need to feel confident. This will be delivered online and through video calls. While you’re volunteering with us as a virtual buddy, you’ll also get a written account of your volunteering and references (if required), reimbursement (报销) of pre-agreed expenses (up to £ 25). and great opportunities to develop new skills and get to know new people while making a real difference to a person’s life.

Who We Are Looking for

We need volunteers who are good at expressing their ideas and feelings and are passionate about supporting people with complex disabilities to communicate and experience the world. We’re also always looking for volunteers who have knowledge or experience of British Sign Language. You don’t need to have previous experience of volunteering or nursing disabled people.

If you have any questions regarding the role or would like some more information, please contact the volunteering team at yolunteer@sense.org.

2 . Anxiety comes in many forms and can affect people in different ways. Anyone living with anxiety knows it can have a direct effect on the quality of life. The good news is that anxiety is treatable. The books below offer a variety of ways to deal with anxiety effectively.

Based on hard science and over 10 years helping people who suffer from anxiety, Barry McDonagh shares his most effective technique in this new book, which focuses on facing anxious thoughts and challenging them instead of trying to ignore them.

This book by Paul David is based on a combination of his personal story and the research he’s done on anxiety. He wants to give others hope that it’s possible to regain the life by sharing his story of recovery.

The book by David D. Burns can help you face up to and quickly defeat negative thoughts and emotions, such as shyness, public speaking anxiety and test anxiety, without lengthy therapy or prescription drugs.

In this book, Dr. Claire Weekes offers the results of years of experience treating real patients. With her simple, step-by-step guidance, you will learn how to understand and analyze your own symptoms of anxiety and find the power to conquer your fears for good.

The book by Trudy Scott shows that food impacts brain chemistry and emotions. It also offers lifestyle tips on how to reduce anxiety symptoms and how the food we eat plays a role in relieving symptoms.

6 . There’s nothing so annoying as a broken bike. If there’s something wrong with your bicycle, stop using it and have it checked and fixed by MacBike’s expert mechanics (机修工).

FIXED WITHIN ONE DAY

Most of our repairs are done by our bike mechanics within one day, so if you bring your bike in the morning you can pick it up at the end of the day.

FREE LOAN BIKE

If repairs are 35 Euros or more, you will find free replacement transport ready and waiting for you. This loan bike will have you back on the road within 10 minutes!

BOVAG CERTIFIED

We are a BOVAG-certified bike repair shop. We follow specialized workshops annually so we can deliver high-quality services to our customers. We handle BOVAG guarantee and BOVAG terms of delivery.

Where

MacBike has three shops for bicycle sales and repair shops in the city centre of Amsterdam: 38th Avenue, 30th Avenue, 45th Avenue.

Business Hours

Monday-Saturday from 09:00-18:00

Closed on

25 & 26 December.

1 January

27 April

Telephone Number

0031 (0)20 428 14 40

Getting There

Bus 9, 14

Subway 51, 53, 54

7 . Events at Olbrich for This Month

Alcohol Inks & Acrylic Bouquets

June 4, 2024, 1: 00 pm

In this workshop, we’ll use alcohol inks and special paint to create two 9 × 12 flower bouquet (花束) paintings. Learn techniques that transform abstract backgrounds and use negative-space painting to create beautiful works of art.

Macro Botanical Photography & Bouque t Making

June 6, 2024, 2: 00 pm

Join us to learn how to make your own bouquet and then gain some tips on how to photograph your flowers to make their beauty last. All levels welcome and no previous photography education necessary. Bring your DSLR camera, and ensure you have its basic working knowledge as we will not be able to help onsite. You will leave with a flower bouquet and macro photography tips booklet to ensure you’ve got the essential knowledge.

Virtual Tai Chi Meditation at Home

June 7, 2024, 6: 00 pm

“Move like a great river; be still like a mountain” instructs the age-old description of the meditative exercise and movement art of Tai Chi Chuan. This class offers standing movements and seated practices rooted within the Chinese tradition of Tai Chi and Chi Kung for the enrichment of body, mind and spirit. All physical abilities welcome, including those in need of chair-based practice.

Bike for Butterflies Virtual Lecture — Sara Dykman

June 9, 2024, 1: 00 pm

Join us for a special virtual lecture by an inspiring professional working hard to bring more attention to butterfly conservation. Learn how he combines long biking journeys with his passion for butterflies.

8 . Herman Rawi from Malaysia uploads TikTok videos of him tasting all kinds of food. But the video of him eating snow on Jan.28 is the only one that comes with a cautionary warning.

Having to battle hot weathers on the equator for most time of the year, almost all of Malaysians love cold dessert. Perhaps this is why Herman tends to lack self-control when he sees snow. During his recent trip to Yamagata, Japan, he filmed himself eating a ball of snow. “A reason — I had terrible fever, cough, runny nose and body aches for eight days,” he wrote in the video’s description.

Herman claimed, “I used to eat snow during the winter when I studied in the UK years ago. I would often go for the freshest snow at an undisturbed place and never fell sick.”

While you may assume snow that’s freshly fallen and collected in an undisturbed area is free of any harmful substances, don’t be so sure. According to meteorologist Mary Scarzello Fairbanks, snow isn’t all that pure. “It’s formed when water-drops freeze around some dust in the air, forming an ice crystal that continues to collect water vapor and form a snowflake. When the snowflake falls, it will also collect things hanging in the air, including dirt and even bacterial particles. If it’s windy, snow could even mix with dirt kicked up from the soil before settling,” he said.

A 2015 study published in the journal Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts even demonstrated how snow could mix with gasoline exhaust 2. This all means that, theoretically, your snow ice cream could have some pretty disgusting “flavorings”.

Eating snow in an emergency is another matter. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warns against snow snacking for anyone who is trapped, such as hikers, because it can lower one’s body temperature. In cases where there is a water supply issue, the CDC says it’s safe to take collected snow and boil it to kill some harmful bacteria.

10 . Whether you’re hiking through Yellowstone or camping in the Ozarks, choosing the best backpacking stove (炉子) to take with you can make a big difference. Read on for some of our top picks.

Backpackers love its convenient built-in igniter (点火器), powerful heat output, and four-pronged (四管的) pot stabilizer, which provides a more stable platform for cooking than three-pronged stoves.

The Solo Titan burns twigs, pine cones, leaves, and any other biofuels you may find out in nature, offering a safe and natural alternative to burning gas. The Titan is considered mid-size, ideal for cooking for several people.

Based on hundreds of reviews, hikers say they’re impressed by this gas-powered stove’s easy setup. The Star X2 also features Heat Exchange Technology, which the company says provides superior wind-resistance in different weather environments, helping to reduce overall boil time.

Weighing just 2.9 ounces, the Soto Amicus is well known for its light weight and attractive appearance. Multiple Amazon reviewers praise this backpacking stove’s easy setup and four integrated pot stabilizers, which create a stable base for cooking in the wilderness.