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: Ho Chi Minh

  • Goodbye Saigon, pt II

    Another friend flew out for Thanksgiving. There is no such a thing here in Saigon: oven-roasted turkey, croton and mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce , yam and apple pie. Mouth-watering!  children running around and old folks reminiscing the good old days. Yes, his destination has a few hallmarks of the American Dream. Here in old Saigon,…

  • Love sees differently

    It’s half past five AM. Outside the Women Association of Ho Chi Minh City, I heard music. Not hip hop, not trance. Jut Gold music “Gui Gio Cho May Ngan Bay”, blasted from a boom box . It’s dark, but the sidewalk hosted a group of women practicing Tai-Chi.  The music was about acceptance, about one wing drops after another. But…

  • Saigon alley

    I left W Palm Beach where some called “paradise” for Saigon alley. Going from beach to bunker, I got a bump up in  the Happiness index. Costa Rica for example has led this chart for quite sometime. Vietnam, according to latest survey, ranked behind Costa Rica. In fact, having moved up on the Happiness  Index, it is de-listed…

  • Mua Saigon (rain on tin roof)

    Out of hundreds, emerged one. Winner of the throne. Winner of brand simple. Vua Hung Vuong, Vietnam‘s first King. His campaign? Neither communication skill, nor combating skill. But culinary skill. Simple dishes yet full of meaning: square bean cake representing the Earth, round one the Moon. Harmony without and symmetry within. Bingo! The throne is yours.…

  • Long’s last laugh

    My friend had a square jaw. When he laughed, his features became more pronounced. Already taller than most, he carried himself above the fold. Not all kids in my school went to the Conservatory. You had to have talent. For that brief year in 7th grade, he joined us at music practice. “Can you play…

  • Death-affirming culture

    During lunch time at my first job (Child Welfare Bureau at Indian Town Gap, PA), we threw a football, my first. That was supposed to be my induction into the Penn State culture the following Fall. Here in Vietnam, at lunch time, I walk by a casket store. As equally shocking for foreigners as my…

  • Traffic turns attraction

    Crunch time in Ho chi Minh City. A nuisance for many yet a photo-op for tourists. Millions in ponchos, helmets, dust masks, sunglasses fighting for every inch (centimeter here) to get  home in the pouring rain, while tourists leisurely strolled the colonial side walks in shorts, sandals and Sony cameras trying to record their trips.…

  • The General Temple

    When my mom, a teacher, took me there, I was 5. This time, I  went there by myself. Happy Teacher’s Day! The Temple has always opened to seekers . On New Year‘s Eve, it’s the equivalent of Times Square . The crowd, the smell of incense burning and the long line at fortune teller’s dispensary. It…

  • Grace Jones, Jim Jones, Terry Jones

    All with a “view to a kill”. Jim Jones at least took the cool-aid himself. Terry Jones, after delaying the Quran-burning date for a few months, gave in to his arsenic urge (or attention-getting disorder). I am all for learning, from book lessons, and life lessons. Life teaches us lessons from the doing and wrongdoing of…

  • From sleigh to moped

    http://www.economist.com/blogs/asiaview/2010/12/christmas_vietnam Ho, Ho, Ho in Ho Chi Minh City. Toys for tots, delivered by Santa on moped. When the US pulled out of Vietnam, it played “White Christmas” on Armed Forces radio. Now, it’s peace-time Vietnam, where people enjoy every bit of cotton and confetti used to decorate the city’s manger. I was there two…