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

  • Pause-Reflect-Play

    Originally posted on Thang Nguyen 555: We are each given a remote control. But not all of us know where the PAUSE button is. We press PLAY or oftentimes FAST FORWARD. Then we are looped in by stimuli  from all directions (Preview, Blu Ray slide show etc..). Attention grabbers and assaults to our senses. We…

  • tricycle economy

    Originally posted on Thang Nguyen 555: Easy to propel forward. Easy to stop and stand still. No fear of falling (gravity) and no incentive to pedal forward (inertia). The blessing and curse of a stimulus-dependent economy. To move  forward, one needs to fight both gravity and inertia. An extra wheel offers the illusion that things…

  • strong as an ox

    Originally posted on Thang Nguyen 555: 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,…

  • Et pourtant, I think of French bread

    Originally posted on Thang Nguyen 555: This guy, Thomas Huang, went searching for a chocolate eclaire in Saigon, and ended up having his article in the Dallas Morning News http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/fea/travel/thisweek/stories/DN-vietbread_0711tra.ART.State.Edition1.4fb9c7b.html I sat next to a business man from Dallas on my recent trip to Vietnam. He and his partners were into real estate. And the…

  • Name Change

    Originally posted on Thang Nguyen 555: It costs about $800 to change one’s name here in the US e.g. on social security , driver’s license and passport. One might prefer something that has global sounding: Villa, Gaga, Shakira. Between YouTube, Facebook and World Cup, we enjoy an unprecedented confluence of technology and globalization. And the…

  • Saigon upgrade

    Originally posted on Thang Nguyen 555: 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…

  • From Bay Bridge to Bong Bridge

    Originally posted on Thang Nguyen 555: 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…

  • India + 1 cafeteria

    Originally posted on Thang Nguyen 555: 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.…

  • the art of showing

    Originally posted on Thang Nguyen 555: 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…

  • Saigon in motion

    Originally posted on Thang Nguyen 555: A couch floats down the river right pass Bong Bridge a while ago. As of this edit, there was a “hot” clip about police trying to stop a girl from jumping to her death on another bridge. Vietnam still has to battle with forces of nature, (typhoon Utor) and…