Thang Nguyen 555

Cultures on Collision Course

recent posts

about

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: Hollywood

  • A chance at nuances

    Those of us who went to school which required students to wear uniforms can relate to this: we learned to fit in. By the time we entered corporate world, the dress code and work-place behavior come as second nature. Yet without differentiation, our products and personal brand get lost in the shuffle. So we try…

  • Stars and stunts

    They stretched the truth to “show” it in better lights (as in Argo). They twisted some arms, pushed the envelopes and burned both ends of the candle (one end is dream, the other memories). They stepped into characters, sang the chorus and spoke the lines. Light, sound, camera and …”action”. Moving pictures. Marketing of dreams and…

  • the Bi-Lingual Mind

    Those of us who move back and forth in between two worlds can relate to this. Every time we pick a language to speak or write (E or V in my case), we subscribe to a whole new context e.g. away from tutoyer to address someone as big bro, younger sis  as practiced in the…

  • Brand America

    American Apparel ‘s tag line is “sweatshop free”. Nike‘s Just Do It (i.e. Just Buy It). Apple‘s – Think Different. Meanwhile, Haier and Huawei are trying to copy Hundai and Kia who tried to copy Honda and Toyota who had tried to copy VW and Mercedes. Brand building in and outside of America. What would John…

  • Learning as motivator

    From papyrus to paper, from microfiche to microphone, we use technology for knowledge transfer. Learning is a great motivator. Once started it never stops (in my death-bed, I probably still ask the attending nurse what all those charts mean, and why not this and that). Don’t believe in learning curve (as if once you got…

  • Slippery Saigon

    I went out for my morning jog in slippery Saigon.  I was hoping for cooler weather. Now that my wish was granted, I begin to have second thought: if it’s cool here, it means somewhere up North, people are freezing, or boats and houses destroyed. We live in a connected world and leave behind carbon footprints.…

  • 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…

  • Point A To B

    We make that trip all our lives. To and Fro. Back and Forth. Arriving and Leaving. The Goodbye Girl. The Run-Away Bride. The Mid-night Cowboy. All feels restless Gotta be somebody, going places. This time, point B happens to be Mars itself. Young people can muster up the courage to go to far-away wars, but dare…

  • Use it

    Hard times push people to diversify, retrench or change. My friends turn organic farmers. I have tried the road less traveled (although there were many scooters on it) and early morning gym (also less popular).  Honing and toning. Just another way to react to hard times. It will make us stronger, wiser and more creative. I…

  • Let them visit

    In “Imagined in America“, Friedman reminded us that 30 years ago, Hong Kong used to be a manufacturing colony. Today its economy consists of 97-percent service, with a booming tourism industry (mostly visited by Mainland Chinese). The second point was, America too can become a tourist Mecca that lures 300 million cash-hording middle-class Chinese. Already we saw the influx…