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: Sunday

  • 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…

  • Brunch w/ a bunch (of jamers)

    It’s my first time at  Van’s Cafe, 46 Pham Ngoc Thach, District 1 Saigon on Sunday morning. And I found myself walking into the door with 2 musicians I know: Mr Hai, on base guitar, and Quoc Dat (blind but extremely gifted jazz pianist, and a student of my now deceased friend.). Before I knew it, people…

  • The ME who could’ve been

    It’s Chinese New Year morning. Except there weren’t a lot of Vietnamese around. They were here yesterday, and last week. But apparently, on this cold Sunday morning, gym wasn’t their priority. Attention is devoted to festivals and festivities at the Temples, in the park and at the fair. Like in-country counterparts, they would put on…

  • The guitarist

    A Quoc Tri could be heard at Cafe Vuong Tron, GoVap on Sunday morning and M-evenings. Other nights, you can catch him at Cafe S, near Du Mien, in Phu Nhua District. This morning his band mate commented him on letting his hair out, and not pony-tailed. We even took an I-phone pic of him, with LOVE on black…

  • Then came the rain

    It rained on the book fair here in Saigon. Word and water don’t mix. But I must admit seeing young readers eager to browse anything and everything, even kissing the note books we handed out, warms my heart. I can relate to why the Happiness Index listed top countries such as Costa Rica and Vietnam. Money might…

  • My Saigon

    Like Trinh Cong Son‘s Diem Xua, I got my own imprints of what  Saigon was like. Especially on Sundays, like today. Shaded streets, short strolls and sweet smiles. Who needs all the executive shirt with designers’ emblem on it. Instead of shirt, just smile even when you are not on camera. “Cuoi len di em oi” Just…

  • Microphone Sunday

    Yesterday I saw Mike from UK play Bieber-like and adoring This morning I managed to have him in front of the mike at Cafe Vuong Tron Inter-generational and inter-cultural Sunday coffee house at the outskirt of Saigon The featured singer would take a break and Mike went to the mike He just let go “Broken-hearted”…

  • Male figure

    We all need a hero. Someone to look up to. Even subconsciously. Most of the time, it’s our Dad. When mature enough to know there are shades of grey and our Dad had been far from perfect, we grew confused. The same happened when our leaders betrayed us. From coach to banker, from monk to priest, they…

  • The analog attachment

    Years ago, I was fascinated with the California flea market. Back East, we got garage sales or moving sales. But the Bay Area markets sold vinyl albums, “flower” clothing, books and even gourmet meals on wheels. A Vietnamese family even offered sugar cane juice next to a hot-dog stand. Fast forward 20 years. A random walk…

  • globalize, empathize and digitize

    It’s Kitchen God day in Asia. Super Bowl weekend here in Miami. And the DOW is down across the board. Oh when the Saints oh marching in…. People were guessing, just like Mr Watson, that maybe the world can make use of a few computers, or move to digitization perhaps 15-20% of current load. Well…