Thang Nguyen 555
Cultures on Collision Course
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Author: Thang Nguyen 555
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It’s like Who is on First, or the Who. It’s you who is the Who. You need to get the bugs out to uncover the better version of yourself. Everything up to this point is payload: family advices (ill or good-will), the institutions (and college loan) and work places. Some of us found out the…
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Saigon currently is under a shield of grey. The weary, the worried put on ponchos, just to take them off. False alarm. Oh Come Ye O Faithful blasted out from neighboring homes. Christmas is in the air. but not for those who make a living hand-to-mouth, and there are a lot them. Maybe this year is the year…
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In front of Eden mall, Saigon, Christmas ornaments are on display. People here love to come and take pictures. It’s a tradition. It’s their annual pilgrim, blending East and West (Noel decorationas prelude to Tet’s celebration). Sidewalks still uneven. Tourists still trip over loosed bricks. Yet they keep coming. The other boulevard (Ham Nghi) with Old…
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You will find a bunch of Filipino bands around Saigon, from Hard Rock Cafe to Acoustic. When the British rock bands gained noteriety in America back in the 60’s, the phenomenon was coined The British Invasion. Now Vietnam is experiencing similar invasion by their neighbors. They got the language (English), the look (still brown-skinned), and the connection (E2…
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Good luck! Bit it’s better for you to wait until the scorching heat subsides, before you have a chance. There are layers to Saigon, like you would peeling an onion. Cafe Sua Da prices fluctuate from one street corner to the next. On the main tourist strip, you still find Zippo lighters and even dog tags…
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When Steve Jobs came up with his 99-cent song idea, he saved musicians from the curse of piracy. It’s all in the ether. But musicians get paid, however long the tail. Better than nothing at all. More people get to hear those beautifully written pieces. I walked by a coffee shop yesterday. On its walls…
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Parents prepare gift-wrapping and children get wish list ready for Santa. Suicidal souls worry that this would be their last season, or else they would die by default on Dec 21 or 23 , Mayan calendar apocalypse. What would we like to do in these short weeks? Finish those novels to know their endings? Send an encouraging…
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In Vietnam, one of the first questions is What animal represents you? (12 symbols of the zodiac). Second question is, how come you are single. Find someone to alleviate your miserable state of being single (collective society). Third and logical conclusion: find someone, whose symbol matches yours, yin-yan, fire and ice, earth and sky etc……
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I am half way through In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson. The book was set in the time of Hitler as viewed by an American ambassador’s daughter. She seemed to have a grand time: dating all sorts of men , even of at opposite end of the political spectrum; shifting and evaluating them…
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” I am changing everything” …Like Holden Caulfield, catcher in the Rye. “Oh I don’t want to die..”. The future that I once fret is my current present. “All my sorrows”….were for nothing. They said 90% of our worries didn’t materialize. Yet we keep worrying. Like a plague. Dec 21st or 23rd (Mayan Calendar). Just…
Thang Nguyen 555 