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: Thomas Friedman

  • Mac Miracle

    My friend kept listening to Roger Waters‘ It’s a Miracle, whose lyric includes “they’ve got MacDonald in Tibet“. Now, they’ve got MacDonald in Vietnam. More miracle! Thomas Friedman put a spin on an old geo-political theory, which states that any two countries, with a MacDonald, are least likely to engage in an arm conflict. In…

  • Learning as motivator

    From papyrus to paper, from microfiche to microphone, we use technology for knowledge transfer. Learning is a great motivator. Once started it never stops (in my death-bed, I probably still ask the attending nurse what all those charts mean, and why not this and that). Don’t believe in learning curve (as if once you got…

  • Music as Motivator

    Old Time Rock and Roll, Get Ready, I Just Want to Celebrate etc.. will “soothe your soul”. Take time out to massage the affective part of yourself. Ancient culture or atomized culture, we all need to gather around the “fire”, to warm up, to celebrate and to belong. Music as equalizer, as motivator. A call…

  • Bumpy boat ride

    Stories of tourist boats that capsized, ship builder that went default on loan payment, and fishing boats got intimidated by a gigantic neighbor, kept coming out of Vietnam recently. When you live along a coast that spans from San Diego to North of Vancouver, sea-related incidents are bound to happen. The latest dispute centered in the…

  • The three towers

    Tower Records and Twin Towers. All came down. I remember watching it over and over in disbelief. My “where were you when Kennedy was assassinated” moment. My friend even commented on my being so upset. And I remember blurting out that a culture with Howard Stern throwing bagels at cream-cheesed butts on TV  was in…