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: San Francisco

  • Van’s Cafe pt II

    Last Sunday morning was my first time at the jam session here. Today, my second. It is getting better, sweeter and with more substance. Thanksgiving weekend with friends and music lovers. It’s game weekend in the US. Or shop til you drop. Here jazz music permeates the air we breathe. Unrehearsed of course. But it…

  • 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,…

  • Switching the script

    On film set, writer is often called out on short notice to fix the dialogue. Something is better left unsaid or sounded odd when in “live” context. In life, we can’t retrace our steps to switch the script. It’s live, and happened once only. There lies the importance of getting the right words first time around. Another…

  • Marconi and Marcom

    In the late 80’s, PacTel Cellular boasted seamless connection from San Francisco to San Diego. That is, if you had a battery pack to power the wireless devices (MicroTac? Motorola). Remember this was pre-Twitter days. Now it’s 12/12/12 and the Mayan’s calendar is soon running out. Back when Marconi was experimenting with sending signals across the…

  • On Persuasion

    Lights, sound, camera, ACTION! He is back, still with “Don’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow” for an entrance and an exit punch line “the Union, as conceived and committed to by the Founding Fathers.” He systematically laid out the choices, an either-or. He mentioned the opponent’s alternate universe , where 2+2 might not = 4. Or…4 more…

  • Be sure to bring some flowers

    That voice which slows toward the end of the song as the chord changes: “If you’re going to San Francisco…” accompanied by the 60’s signature tambourine, has died. But his one-hit wonder stays, perhaps more famous than the city itself. It’s a state of mine. A period in history, with in-depth expose by Tom Hayden…

  • They keep coming

    In a few days, they might put on Neil Diamond‘s America. Voter registration. Organ donor. Vehicle registration. They bring some cash (let’s hope so) and a load of dream. Many had left personal chapters of their lives before boarding that plane. Just like the Irish and Polish a century and a half ago. Except that the ports of…

  • Tears in the here and now

    I am not Italian. Yet I broke out in tears yesterday, at least three times. A medical check revealed that I had a minor stroke five years ago, which means I have lived on life extension without knowing it. Had I known this sooner, would I have lived my life differently? Or moving forward, what corrections must I make.…

  • Something to learn

    IT workshops and seminars are happening on a weekly basis here in Saigon. Monsoon season is almost over. Except for some cigarette vendors, the Sheraton  downtown could trick you into thinking you were somewhere else, like San Francisco.  Lunch was ready for a group of  CSO‘s and Software testers, uniformed attendants mingled with pony-tailed guests. Something…

  • Crossed markets

    Forbes kept praising the success of luxury brands in China while web sites in Vietnam and China mentioned “Pepper Spray on Black Friday”. Chinese-made goods, sold as lost leaders, to the first 100-early-bird shoppers. Planned scarcity. Hype-creation. Sensational, sizzling headline-grabbing video op for YouTube. We need attention. The media need it even more. (For some counter-intuitive…