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: Home

  • If you could read my heart

    In Eastern cultures, one relies on traditional matchmakers to “read” marriage prospects. Online, we’ve got eHarmony.com or Match.com. Over job interviews, we rely on body language, off-guard remarks and (in)consistencies to form an impression and to determine candidate’s culture-fit. If only could you read my heart. How are we to determine his/her reaction after the…

  • Say “cheese”!

    I touched on this slightly in another blog. It’s about growing up never knew if my grandparents even smiled at all (I gathered this from the black and white photos in the family album). We are still shackled by the analog world which tells us to stand straight and stare straight into the lenses (36 poses…

  • Money as Motivator

    Money does something to us. It both elevates and debases us. In War and Peace,  Pierre, as opposed to Prince Andrew, inherited a vast estate. Then things went south: duel, divorce and determination to “sanctify” himself by joining the Free Masonry Society. When money is involved, motivators are involved, not all pure and noble. We are shy to talk about it.…

  • The thrill of a trip

    Essentials only. Portable stuff. Restricted carry-on. Off we go. Leaving behind the desk top, roof top and all  the stuff on the counter-top. While traveling, we put on more weight. Eating “lesser-of-the-two-evils” choice of foods. Meeting and making small talks with people we had never met. It’s  a thrill nevertheless. The exchange of goods and…

  • Feminism Vietnamese way

    I have seen them in Ao Dai, on scooters. I have seen them in Ao Dai, holding child, on scooters (perhaps on the way to childcare) before work. I have seen them with child canvassing the street selling lottery tickets. Perhaps I used to be that very child my teacher mom in Ao Dai used…

  • Unlikely place

    Ugliness and evil exist in unlikely places. So are beauty and goodness. A vulnerable butterfly dancing in rush-hour traffic, an innocent child on the way home from periodic check-ups. Life offers us not an a-la-cart menu, but a buffet. Fill up not with french fries and jello. Yet at the same time, eat not in…

  • CWO – Chief Worshipping Officer

    On my first week as CEO at UVT – I met an issue none of the Business School in the US had equipped their students for: to bow or not to bow at the Fortune–God altar in the school lobby. It’s hard enough to know where the bathroom is – much less stumbling upon the…

  • Motherhood, Madness and Meditation

    Seeing a photo of a grey-hair guy, on bike and  backpack, riding home with bouquet of flowers in the front basket, reminded me of International Day of Women. There is no doubt, according to an Australian’s observer, that women are bosses here in Vietnam. Tiger Mom. To punctuate this point, I was sitting at an outdoor…

  • Survivor’s guilt

    We have heard uplifting stories about the human spirits, survivors at seas and in the wilderness. But the other side of the coin is survivor’s guilt. This reaction is just an extension of that loneliness as portrayed in Cast Away. The story goes like this. Three guys survived a crash and found themselves on an…

  • Happy Monday

    Yes, one might feel Wonderful Tonight, but not the next morning, Monday that is. Unless, it’s a keeper. Passion doesn’t push it way in, since it’s intrinsic in nature. Yes, we are alloted only 24 hours a day. But some of us can connect the dots faster than others. Then there are those who can…