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

  • Deer facing headlights

    Originally posted on Thang Nguyen 555: WSJ most read article is “Why people can’t make decision” (see my other blog, “buy-in behaviors”). I also found another article that reinforces this period of indecision: companies are saving the money they borrowed at bank’s low rates, thus fail to spur the economy. Why would people borrow money…

  • Thank you Note

    Originally posted on Thang Nguyen 555: We don’t thank people enough. That’s a fact. Bride and groom leave those thank-you notes at the door even pictures taken earlier in the banquet. Efficiency over gratitude. Sales people are advised to send Thank-you cards to get referrals. For job candidates, it’s a must. But what about situations…

  • the Me in a changing We

    Originally posted on Thang Nguyen 555: NYT columnist sums it up and I have nothing to add to it, maybe except the cross-cultural angle about change or perish. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/05/opinion/05iht-edcohen.html?_r=1&hp I hear Yesterday’s lyric ” I am half a man I used to be”. .. Technological leap forward (surround sound, anyone?). Star Wars itself has to…

  • People w/ Purpose

    When I read about a young girl who designed flip-flops and got picked up by Macy’s, I thought that was awesome. My daughter thought the girl in White House Down was also. Built-in and born with. That recognition of greatness, valor and something grander than one’s self. We might not end up being one, but we…

  • seeing daughter

    Originally posted on Thang Nguyen 555: My father often went off to see his daughter, my half-sister. My brother tried to see his son from a previous marriage every few years or so (coast to coast). Now I found myself in the same situation: seeing my little girl whom I took back from the hospital…

  • A flood of love

    Originally posted on Thang Nguyen 555: Every year, flooding in SE Asia killed people and took away their livelihood. And every year, people rush out to give materials and their time for reconstruction. So the mishaps were occasions for the best in humanity, and turn a flood of misery into a flood of love. Nobody…

  • Caught in the thick of rain

    It’s not Les Parapluis de Cherbourg , or Catherine DeNeuve with her trench coat. Just anything over the head to stay, well, less wet. We got out of the pool, just to be wet all over again. Tropical summer. Impeding traffic and time planned. Here in Vietnam, it takes a lot just to stay cool…

  • Summer Sadness

    Some kids revisited their Summer 1942. Coming of age. Others, say in Vietnam, are ready for bigger stage. A Linkedin connect started her SQUAR in emerging Myanma, just core viable product, to be perfected as time goes along. Summer separation and sadness. Summer also brings reunion and reassessment. It’s Q3 for business people. Abenomics or…

  • Number is up!

    Mr Tarr, head of the Vietnam draft lottery, has died at age of 88 in Walnut Creek, CA. A Nixon appointee, he headed Selective Service in 1970. He heard a lot of “Hell No, We Won’t Go”. And now, his number is up. I wonder how those who survive him, still lingering in the Canadian…

  • Out of the box

    We are urged to “think out of the box“, be creative etc.. Easier said than done. Having a liberal arts background, and traveled the world, I find it easier just get out of the box, then think from there. Every place has its own charms and setbacks. Every place gets good and bad people. Don’t…