Thang Nguyen 555

Cultures on Collision Course

recent posts

about

With some short-term relief work in Asia/Africa and long stint in Telecom, Thang also earned a B.A. at Pennsylvania State University. M.A. in Communication at Wheaton Graduate School, M.A. in Cross-Cultural Communication at Gordon-Conwell Seminary, Boston. In addition, he earned a CELTA – classes taken in Hanoi for cultural re-immersion.

Author: Thang Nguyen 555

  • Start hearing

    I have searched in vain for courses and seminars in Listening. You will find tons of books on Winning Presentation, Zen Presentation etc.. but not listening. For one, listening is hard. You have to suppress the urge and the tendency for mis-matching. You have to enter the other person’s frame of reference: understand what he/she is…

  • The I-Shot

    Same walk way ( pedestrian only flower festival on Nguyen Hue), same anticipating crowd. Except for the I-pad people took pictures with. Years ago, at the same setting, I was lost as a five-year-old boy, trying to find my way back to the family’s car. I then climbed on top of it, hand holding the balloon high…

  • Holding hands in Saigon

    The old couple holding hands walking down the street. They looked at me, I at them. What did they see in me? Younger version of themselves? Old man looks at my life? I am a lot more like you? Should it be the other way around? What did I see in them? Grey and withered,…

  • The guitar master

    As I saw him open the door, I said “Guitar Master”. He after all has played for as long as my memory can serve me: on the roof behind my house, and at various venues in Saigon. Still with that baritone voice and impeccable sense of humor. “You might think I am old, but put…

  • Twitter and Twister

    The later brought destruction to the Mid_West, but its impact is immediate, albeit regional. The former more dangerous, simmering and long-tailed. 140 characters are more than enough to assassinate a character, his/her reputation which is built up over a life time. Be careful. Social malaise not social media in the wrong hands. Not enough post,…

  • Tears in the here and now

    I am not Italian. Yet I broke out in tears yesterday, at least three times. A medical check revealed that I had a minor stroke five years ago, which means I have lived on life extension without knowing it. Had I known this sooner, would I have lived my life differently? Or moving forward, what corrections must I make.…

  • Start seeing

    In two weeks, I am up for new pair of eye glasses. But today, upon first examination, the eye care doctor revealed what was obvious to her, but not to me: I have had a minor stroke (vein # 7), which pulled my left eye up and if I were able to ask someone to watch…

  • Ways of seeing

    I saw a cone-hat lady make her garbage scavenging route after midnight.  I blurted out ” wow, that late. Must be tiring.” When my friend suddenly added ” she doesn’t depend on others to make her living”. Now, that’s an alternate way of seeing the same thing. Our judgment is often clouded by our prejudice.…

  • Survivor’s guilt

    We have heard uplifting stories about the human spirits, survivors at seas and in the wilderness. But the other side of the coin is survivor’s guilt. This reaction is just an extension of that loneliness as portrayed in Cast Away. The story goes like this. Three guys survived a crash and found themselves on an…

  • All Cast

    My neighbor got off his cast today. I congratulated him, and told him, me too, had a broken arm after my first month of Kung Fu. “It’s itchy and hairy”.  I got a chuckle out of him (who would otherwise looked so mean). A few minutes later, I walked past a man with only one arm.…