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: Thailand

  • OPP (other people’s problems)

    We live in a world full of acronyms e.g. PPO, OPM (Other People’s Money), SOP, CDO, COD etc.. In big companies, Customer Service reps just get through their day, throwing around acronyms to feel they are on the inside, without thinking about “touchpoints” (problems as opportunities to upsell). My cable acted up two days ago.  The…

  • Never let go

    14 Vietnamese women were found and freed from Baby101, a Taiwanese outfit operated outside of the law in Thailand. They were paid to be surrogate mothers (artificial insemination or otherwise), whose future babies would be put up for adoption. Baby, never let me go. Newsweek has a piece about anonymousUS.org, an organization which seeks to organize…

  • Vietnamese meta language

    She said No, but her body language said Yes. He said Yes, but his other language said No. How to figure it out? Context is key. Mothers love you your entire life, but never said “I love you” directly. Teachers who were mighty proud of their students’ achievement, but remained stern and strict behind thick…

  • electronics mart for Viet consumption

    “I want nobody nobody but you” blasted out from, of all places, busy Hang Xanh circle, Electronics Supermarket by Thailand. Buy a laptop, got a free phone. Flat screen tv‘s, refrigerators and karaoke systems. Should be the envy of our proverbial Maytag man since N American market has been saturated for a while. How many TV’s can you fit…

  • Jazzy Saigon

    I attended Quyen Thien Dac and the Nilsson Trio (Jazz) performance a while ago. Cultural exchange. But “fant” or on-the-dime invention is not new here.  Saigon traffic has already been jazzy, zigzagging at every turn. I was with friends. He himself brought an ensemble of jazz men to Vietnam a while back. Mighty proud of my friend…

  • Avez vous le vuvuzela?

    Vietnamese soccer fans are eager to get their hands on the instrument. It’s not surprising to see Vietnamese hot for soccer. I was there when Vietnam scored at the last-minute to win over Thailand. But it is quite amusing to hear how vuvuzela is also making its way from South Africa to South Vietnam. Isn’t…

  • Self-monitoring Vietnam

    Two articles on Bloomberg Business Week. One on Clicking with co-workers (productivity increase) and the other, Vietnam is finally ready for foreign investment ( with a question mark at the end). The former article is based on a study that people who work and play together make a great team. The other, since its neighbors…

  • body building in Saigon

    I have paid my first-month membership and come back for seven days straight. The place is tiny.  I must have timed it badly: my body peak performance coincides with peak-time traffic which weaves through the front door (bikes found their short cut artery in an alley). So I lift while listening to Michael Jackson’s CD. I…