Thang Nguyen 555

Cultures on Collision Course

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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

  • India + 1 cafeteria

    I ordered an iced coffee with milk, this time not in the to-go cup. I just want to sit down, and take it all in. No I am not in India. But close. I am in formerly known as Saigon. On the  8th floor. REBOOT CAFE. The LogiGear building. Offshore software testing center. Young engineers…

  • the art of showing

    In Impressive First Impressions, author Vu Pham introduces the concept of “reset”.  By that he means, we constantly need to reset our first impressions according to each context and situation:  at work, at play, at home. The same guy.  When he was at the top of his game, generated a different impression than when he…

  • Sharing the toys

    We adults have forgotten how fun it once was when we shared our toys with friends. The play process took over and had a life in and of itself. Facebook maintains that “collegial” feel i.e. pajamas party. I will show you mine, you show me yours. Photo, music, blog and video. Can’t have a billion-user…

  • Saigon upgrade

    In 2000, I was sitting at Cadillac, a semi-enclosed bar, whose band played Hotel California and I Will Survive. In 2010, I found myself at Rolls Royce, which also played Hotel California and I Will Survive. 2013, at Van’s Cafe, its band plays Bon Jovi’s number lacing with Santana’s classics. Nouveaux riches, yetl good oldies. The expats…

  • strong as an ox

    I am back to the land where people work animals into daily speech: – strong as an ox – wrinkle as a monkey – dumb as a cow. Everything gets used more than once (recycled): plastic bags, banana leaves. In Understanding Vietnam ( through literature) published by Berkeley Press, the author, after surveying many well-known pieces, came to see that…

  • From Bay Bridge to Bong Bridge

    It took 20 years for me to reconnect with a childhood friend. The last time we saw each other was near the Bay Bridge. This time, 2 decades have passed, and he picked me up on his motorcycle near Bong Bridge, in the heart of Saigon. You might think that his ability to weave in…

  • My first day at school

    Everyone remembers that dreadful day. I did. My mom was a teacher herself, but at a different school. So my sister, 19 years my senior, had to grudgingly play surrogate parent. She dropped me off to join a bunch of babies whose cries were contagious. The French school was two blocks away. It required students…

  • Saigon Start-up Shop

    Anupa (.net) wanted to start a woman handbag shop made of eco-friendly materials. And she uses male models (footballers to be specific). “My bags are different” she said (talking about differentiation – male models? green handbags? offshored boutique?) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/expat/expatlife/7887561/From-London-to-Vietnam.html Cosmopolitan? Obviously. Her leaving the corporate safety net to follow her gut instinct reminds me of…

  • gifts from the universe

    Carlos Santana said “falling in love is a gift from the universe” as he proposed to his drummer while on tour. Meanwhile, Spain team is back home, amidst a severe economic lock jam. Yet, for one day, everyone seems to be happy and  bullish again (they all wear red). If you want to paint a…

  • Showing in Las Vegas

    Paris by Night, the struggling franchise, got weekend coverage in mainstream press which themselves suffer declining readership. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0711-paris-20100711,0,6607368.story But people still showed for the live taping.  Vietnamese-American pilgrimage to the Temple of Chance. GA (gamblers anonymous) regional meetings are also held in Macau, and most recently, Singapore. I thought to myself , after Spain’s WC…