Thang Nguyen 555
Cultures on Collision Course
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Tag: Provinces
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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…
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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.…
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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…
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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…
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Young population. Lots of noise and headsets. Night clubs and bars open every single night of the week. And let’s not forget those Karaoke stores, coffee shops and sidewalk beer stalls. Certainly not Sound of Silence here. My morning starts with greetings from those neighbor’s roosters. From there on, it will only get louder: bike’s…
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