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.

Tag: Associated Press

  • Romancing Saigon

    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…

  • Pressing on

    There are days when nothing seemed to go your way. Just have to press on. Then there are days when things converge, in perfect storm with positive results. Just have to press on. Things, people and places. They are what/who they are. Can’t bend them to our liking, for our preferences. Just have to learn…

  • Male figure

    We all need a hero. Someone to look up to. Even subconsciously. Most of the time, it’s our Dad. When mature enough to know there are shades of grey and our Dad had been far from perfect, we grew confused. The same happened when our leaders betrayed us. From coach to banker, from monk to priest, they…

  • Mountains and mole hills

    It’s not that safe at Safeway, if you decided to munch on one of their merchandise (eat-now, pay-later vs pay-now, eat-later), as one pregnant Honolulu tourist found out. http://news.yahoo.com/pregnant-mom-says-sandwich-arrest-horrifying-214407004.html We learned in this AP article that no one stopped to say,” this has been taken far enough” i.e. we have made mountains out of mole hills.…

  • Bumpy boat ride

    Stories of tourist boats that capsized, ship builder that went default on loan payment, and fishing boats got intimidated by a gigantic neighbor, kept coming out of Vietnam recently. When you live along a coast that spans from San Diego to North of Vancouver, sea-related incidents are bound to happen. The latest dispute centered in the…

  • The Y bridge

    Years ago, I met a GI in West Virginia. He couldn’t recall the name of a bridge in Saigon, only that it’s a fork on the road. I blurted out, “the Y bridge”. Something came rushing out of the man’s eyes albeit well-hidden behind thick glasses. He was instantly transported back to a time and…