Why we should all practice “cultural snacking”

Do you love snacks?

Personally, I do. In fact, I eat quite a large variety of snacks. From chocolate to spicy/curry fish balls to granola bars to sticks of grilled squid, you name it, I eat it. And I am sure our CEO loves snacks too – just take a peek inside his side drawers in the office and you will be convinced 🙂

For those of you who love both travelling and munching out, here’s the good news: you can now make a connection between the two (hey, after all, being able to make connections makes life a lot more fun).

Travel enables us to celebrate our interests in learning about different cultures. Whether we put in conscious or subconscious effort, we look at how people live and interact, we learn about their cultural norms, and more importantly, we celebrate international friendships and cultural understanding. Speaking of cultural understanding, research has shown that since the 1990s, “understanding culture” has been the single most motivating factor for travel, which coincides with the idea of “experiential travel” (yes, I can be nerdy too, only once in a while I promise).

I like to call this “cultural snacking”. Much like munching on snacks, we take a little bit of this, a little bit of that, but never too full to eat the proper meal. When we travel, we expect to meet different people, visit different places, do different things, while still be comfortable in our own skin. Learning about different cultures is one of the greatest ways to expand the mind, to understand that even though people may be different, we also share many common needs and feelings. Most importantly, cultural snacking provides us invaluable opportunities to learn that although we may not find every “snack” equally “delicious” for our own taste, we can still respect and appreciate them through this process of experiential learning.

And who said that snacks are bad for your health?

At TGS, you will have tons of snacking opportunities, all of which are guaranteed healthy. The cultural snacking experiences at TGS will keep your heart young, and open your mind to the ever changing world we are a part of, in ways we could never experience at home. Really, snacks are not snacks if not tasted. Reading about the Great Wall in a book is not snacking; climbing it is. Besides, not having to wear a uniform when you munch makes your snack extra fun and delicious. And TGS will be the first to snack with you in the most enjoyable and fulfilling way. Great news is, it definitely helps when the Head of School himself is a big fan of snacks too!

Of course, don’t forget to actually try out the local snacks when you’re on the road.

Here are some snacks from around the world that will, hopefully, make you drool – some are healthier snacks, some are, well, tastier ones. Either way, the most important thing is that they are all FUN food 🙂

Keep snacking! 🙂

– Janice