Thang Nguyen 555

Cultures on Collision Course

recent posts

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: United States

  • Slippery Saigon

    Someone told me that the rainy season here would end soon. Yet it is raining still. Outdoor activities like kung-fu class, xe-om, beer stalls all ceased. I seeked shelters . The trick to walk safely here is to step firmly with one foot into the sidewalk, not at its edge (which slopes down to facilitate…

  • Anchor kids

    Although “Last Men Out” tells a story about the last Marines on the last day of Vietnam, readers still learn a great deal about the Vietnamese “group culture”. Many workers of the former US  embassy were on the list to be “chopper” out (Operation Frequent Wind). It just so happened that the gardener of the embassy came…

  • Thanksgiving, tradition and technology

    While almost everyone in the US gathers around the traditional meal, here in Vietnam, some people come up with a way to marry tradition with technology: ancestor worship online. Its highway to eternity has 10,000 plots, already booked for burial and continued ceremonial service online (to accommodate overseas relatives and those who have resettled to urban…

  • Still inflamed

    When I witnessed the monk set fire on himself some forty years ago, the streets of Saigon had less traffic than it does now. An American photographer got words that there might be something happening’.  By day’s end, morning in Washington, his shot sent shock waves over the wire, as flammable as the content it…

  • Gloria Gaynor survives in Vietnam

    When I visited the neighborhood gym, and heard “I will survive” over the speaker, I knew I was back in full swing. Scooters weaved in and out, backpackers with signature sandals (footwear was an important identifier here) and fake Heineken bootlegged in from our neighbor in the North. I will survive (recycled cook oil, recycled…

  • Re-occupy yourself!

    When I boarded my flight to Vietnam, Penn State was losing to Nebraska. And after I landed in Vietnam, I read about New York “tent city” had been re-occupied by the Mayor. Here in the land of motor scooters, and kids try to conjugate in English, I can put those problems  in perspective. It’s true…

  • Micro Trend, Macro World

    Economy of scale, strength in numbers, linear growth. Out of the 7 Billion of us, almost half live in the cities (hints: pollution, traffic congestion, high crime rate, time crunch, shrinking quality of life, more opportunities but unsustainable). I read about China’s sewer cooking oil, crocodiles roaming the streets of Bangkok, and tent city on Wall…

  • The more the merrier

    Next week, we welcome Earth’s 7 Billionth baby into our human family. When I was born, relatives came to the hospital to visit (as commonly observed even today, in Vietnam). B/W photos were taken and sent up North for our extended families to “take notes”. The more the merrier. Nobody cared who Malthus was. If you…

  • Let them visit

    In “Imagined in America“, Friedman reminded us that 30 years ago, Hong Kong used to be a manufacturing colony. Today its economy consists of 97-percent service, with a booming tourism industry (mostly visited by Mainland Chinese). The second point was, America too can become a tourist Mecca that lures 300 million cash-hording middle-class Chinese. Already we saw the influx…

  • 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…