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: New York City

  • Two front teeth

    Tom Wolfe in one of his quirky observations mentioned that “New York got knocked out of its two front teeth” (in reference to 9/11). It was a dark day for all. Even today, as we remember it. It jolted us our of our slumber. Neighbor comforted neighbor. Don Dillon mentioned “the jumpers” in his novel.…

  • Turning Tragedy into Triumph

    It’s on the Post. It’s on Linkedin. It’s in your face. It’s about tourism to America. Or the decline of. You would think people love to flock to the big Apple, to Disneyland and to Las Vegas. But lately, it doesn’t happen (tourists prefer destinations like Turkey over the USA). To top that, we got bad…

  • Most spoken “Hello”

    We will have said that word, Hello, for the millionth time before quietly slipping into the night. When the telephone was first used, Alexander Graham Bell suggested “What is asked?” for greetings. Finally, we settled for Hello. It acknowledges the other, and ourselves. Greetings as bridges, not barriers. And not just word. We look the…

  • Same river twice

    This is not about going back to your prom night, or re-entering the job market. It’s about locality and landscape that have been gentrified and occupied by new comers as time passed. I happened to be by the old neighborhood where I used to live 30 years ago: same Peking Duck restaurant, same Post Office. Even a bunch…

  • Georgetown on my mind

    It’s been some years since my last visit to Georgetown. Who could forget the last scene in Exorcist (which set standard for a whole new genre). But first, a stop at my parent’s graves in nearby George Mason U. Cold and crisp. Students were out for a jog, some even shopped for shoes. It’s President…

  • The build-up

    It’s like a can of worms, once opened, can never be put back. Yet, that’s what makes us human: from A to B, we insist that a straight line is not the shortest. We have to factor in free will. Even God respects that (by not forcing us to move quickly through Foxconn-like assembly line). Our…

  • 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…

  • toss-up

    Theme from Mahogany has a line “so many dreams just slipped through our hands”. Then “do you know where you’re goin to, do you like the things life is showin you”. I first heard that while drifting on Wake Island  summer 75. Back then, I had one thing in mind: departure for the US. Now, the table…

  • Place of Death

    Patricia Conwell has made a chunk of change with her Medical Examiner (Kate) character. Manner of death . In Vietnam, it’s the place of death that matters. If one dies in a street accident, the casket will be placed out on the sidewalk for the three-day mourning. You can always learn something new here. Meals…

  • Modernity and memory

    A “xe om” (scooter taxi) guy mentioned a city (Lai Thieu?) where one can find all the abandoned carriages (horse or cow). Hearing that, I flashed back to those early days when I accompanied my grandmother on her monthly trip to receive pension. We took a bus, and Lambretta . I always got treated to a good lunch, a special…