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

  • If this were my last day

    Originally posted on Thang Nguyen 555: I would hold the door for the person behind me as always. I would call people whom I have avoided and face those dark alleys once petrified. I would lay down my guards, strip off my veneers, and empathize with others. I would clean up my desk, make my…

  • The Remains of Print

    The Post is now under new ownership. So is the iconic Newsweek. Both incidentally got taken over by jungle-like entities like Amazon and the Beast, respectively. New world order (or jungle order). The “barbarians” are once again at the gate. New totem pole. New titanic shift, from analog to digital, from print to online. I…

  • Flamencing Vietnam

    Originally posted on Thang Nguyen 555: The rhythm. The ambience. And the audience at Carmen. Different breed. Different beat. The Vietnamese singer tried hard at rolling her Latin “R”‘s, just like her predecessors at the French “un”, or the English “you”. Vietnam, and Saigon in particular, has  always been a mix of culture: Cuban band on…

  • FOB, forced off the boat

    Originally posted on Thang Nguyen 555: The LA Times, August 15th issue, ran a story about a Vietnamese fisherman in New Orleans. He has faced enough trial and tribulation a man can afford in one life time: boat people, legal immigrant life, Katrina, and now Gulf oil disaster. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-0731-viet-fisherman-01.jpg-20100816,0,4824071.photo Captain Nguyen is no ordinary captain.…

  • Mathmatically Vietnam

    Originally posted on Thang Nguyen 555: Berkeley is popular with Asian students. Last weekend, I heard that an acquaintance got accepted and would be travelling to Houston to start college. But many young Vietnamese study abroad chose University of Chicago. It is no surprise  that Ngo Bao Chau, the math wiz, pitched his tent there.…

  • Jazzy Saigon

    Originally posted on Thang Nguyen 555: I attended Quyen Thien Dac and the Nilsson Trio (Jazz) performance a while ago. Cultural exchange. But “fant” or on-the-dime invention is not new here.  Saigon traffic has already been jazzy, zigzagging at every turn. I was with friends. He himself brought an ensemble of jazz men to Vietnam a while…

  • Saigon heat

    Originally posted on Thang Nguyen 555: Rain and heat, the yin and yan of Saigon. I saw sugar donuts on sale, so I thought of my niece who used to love those melted brown sugar donuts. I tried one. It chipped away my tooth, which happened to be the base  for neighbouring crown. So I had…

  • La vache qui rit

    Originally posted on Thang Nguyen 555: Forbes recently printed a McKinsey report about the coming consumer society in Vietnam. In other words, we will soon see La Vache qui rit in supermarkets along side real cows which are still allowed to roam free in the country side. Vietnam 2040 will very much resemble US 1950, when…

  • Blind man amidst Saigon traffic

    Originally posted on Thang Nguyen 555: Yesterday I saw a blind man, cane first, feet followed, amidst really busy traffic. He was neither assisted by a companion, dog or human being, nor by traffic alerts for the blind. Yet he made it to the other side (without music from the Door) , and was on…

  • Dakao vs Dalat

    Originally posted on Thang Nguyen 555: Both have open air market. Both got some body of water that defines the city. But that’s about it. 6 hours apart, they might as well be worlds apart. Dakao, even without the street construction, can test your patience. Dalat, even with a new bridge construction, can afford its…