Thang Nguyen 555

Cultures on Collision Course

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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: tech and multi-cultural marketing

  • Queenly

    She is famous still for her role as an Egyptian queen. And she is famous now for engaging to be married the 9th time. Yes, never too old to love. And the heart is not just a pumping instrument. Not for our Queen. A viral mail sent to me last week about a 80-year old…

  • On self-repackaging

    The age of frozen self has finally arrived i.e. you either update your web presence, or remain “frozen” in cyber space. Years from now, people remotely connected to you will Google you  and mine all the intimate data about you or written by you. Personal digital archive. At the turn of our century, Command-and-Control model dominated…

  • End of the world

    In the 60’s, that song was found on the top of the chart. “It ended when you said ‘goodbye’”. In between then and now, we have seen various versions of war, weapon and warriors (Space City should be counted in here as well). And there have been many “ends of the world” for people who…

  • On viewing Capitalism a Love Story

    Michael Moore calls it a wrap (wrapping Crime Scene yellow tape around Wall Street buildings). Same style as his other movies (slice and dice, half-truth and naked truth). And we are forced to relive the pain that won’t go away: foreclosure, life insurance on employees, and the bail out. These days, we are just about…

  • My turn to lay down

    I have just heard that someone I know died. Like a sorority sister who is last in line to get married, I immediately make that connection: “am I next?” A school principal knew that he had five years to run his school, then retirement. It’s good to know how much is left in the gas…

  • Mental illness in Saigon

    Last Saturday, by chance, I was at the mental health facility in Thu Duc, near Saigon. I was joking that I wouldn’t want it to be a drop off trip. The facility needed a new Mess Hall. And my nephew was tasked to design and build it. The patients seemed to have adapted to their…

  • bridge over river Saigon

    At 9AM this morning, I was number 2 car on the right-hand lane waiting at the bridge here in Palm Beach. My thought was: why would people who sail at leisure be given the same right of way as people who rush to work? Why can’t they go at 9:15AM instead? In Saigon, there are…

  • Jet lag 2.0

    I got back from Vietnam last year around this time, hoping against hope that the US economy and job situation would improve. It hasn’t. And this year, after spending another 4 weeks in Vietnam, I have just returned to Florida to find a deja vu. How long and how far more will I have to…

  • the heat of Saigon night

    First rain has visited the city over the past week. But not enough to quench the heat, or dust off the pavement. On both sides of  the city’s  canal, you can find young people sitting on stools and share a hot-pot.  A pony tail guitarist/singer entertains you (Vietnam Mariachi version).  I heard “your Song”, ”…

  • Sound of Saigon

    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…