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: California

  • 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…

  • We can handle the truth

    We here are people who fled Vietnam in various waves (pre-1975, 1975, and post-1975) and have settled in Little Saigon, Orange County, CA. I have seen the strip transformed, from a few stores to be what it is today: patch work of mini plazas interlacing with mobile home parks, often times, reflections of the boom and…

  • Human spirit as Motivator

    Papillon is a real-life recount of  an undefeated spirit. Viktor Frankl talks about “they can take my body but not the spirit that is in me”. In war, down the trenches, with bullets zipping by, what causes a man to stay put? No greater love than a man who lays down his life for a friend.…

  • Monsoon and Moonfest

    Overhearing some people talking about rain in Dalat, Vietnam‘s mountainous area, I thought back to a time and a place where innocence was shred like old skin. You see, growing up in Vietnam even in the midst of the war, was still something to be cherished. You might have neighbor’s funeral with flag draped over…

  • Long Winding Road

    To your door…… I woke up to a Friday. Not any Friday. But a birthday Friday. Long and winding road. Like a graph, your life can be “manipulated” to make it a more positive-trending (not Bell-shaped). Depends on how you look at it. People have said that President Obama looks older than when he first…

  • The undercurrent

    Got jolted last night. 4.1 shock. And this morning, some more aftershocks. It reminds me we share a vulnerable surface: ozone layer all around and a sea of lava underneath. While we receive pictures of Mars surface, we are reminded of Earth surface as well. It takes some getting used to, living in California. But…

  • Hello Darkness

    my ole friend, I come to talk with you again. We all know the tune. That which resonates and recalls of years past. The familiarity against the unknown. Familiar darkness, receding into that comfort zone, the cocoon. Farthest corner would be that mother’s womb: where it all began. Rocking motion, complete safety and insulation. That’s…

  • They keep coming

    In a few days, they might put on Neil Diamond‘s America. Voter registration. Organ donor. Vehicle registration. They bring some cash (let’s hope so) and a load of dream. Many had left personal chapters of their lives before boarding that plane. Just like the Irish and Polish a century and a half ago. Except that the ports of…

  • V for valley

    Silicon Valley that is. Palo Alto. The hype, the anticipation and burst. Dream and dread. It’s here for the taking. You game? Pine trees and even banana trees. Years ago, one would see Vietnamese technicians and Indian engineers. Now, the work is mostly outsourced and off shored. The design and creative work are still here. But…

  • instant noodles, orange and sandwich

    38 years ago I ate those three items not in one day, not in one vessel, and not in one country. Instant noodles out in International Waters under firing rockets, oranges aboard a USS vessel and finally, a sandwich in Subic Bay, Philippines. After that hellish trip, plane foods, hotel foods, cafeteria foods all taste better.…