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: United States

  • Heroes in our eyes

    We got some footage about those Japanese astronauts now. This brings me back to those endless summers when I watched all sorts of movies: French, American, Chinese and Japanese. Among the Japanese ones, the most memorable is the “blind Samurai”, who exemplifies the spirit of quiet strength. We self-project, so our heroes tend to reflect…

  • New voice new vision

    I browsed the DVD shelves at my local library (North Palm Beach) the other day, and saw Buffalo Boy next to Brokeback Mountain and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid.  It is by fate that the Cowboy and the Buffalo(boy) found themselves on the same DVD shelf, just like those black and white GI’s names…

  • Long tail

    2,000 cars (Nano, by Tata) and $20 per gallon of gas? HP printer and ink model. Thin client, thick server. I got it, I got it! In the same vein, they should subsidize “Blu-ray” disc player, that way, more of us (late adopters) will get onboard quicker. Mid-summer! Beach time. But not innocence time. I…

  • Free but not cheap

    People have paid lips service to freedom, the defense of freedom, and the exercise of free speech. But few put any thought on the price of freedom. Freedom somehow is perceived as being free (i.e. you don’t have to pay anything, in economic terms). Actually, freedom costs a lot. Many lives have been laid down…

  • Asian drivers

    It’s been a long way since Sixteen Candles. In it, we found Long Duk Dong, the male Asian actor, portrayed a Japanese exchange student who wrecked the host family car on a night out “what auto-mobile?” he asked laying on the front lawn at mid morning the next day. Fast forward to today and the…

  • A girl walks into a bar…

    We all need a “third place” (neither home nor office) to let our hair down. It used to be Cheers-like place “where everybody knows your name“. And lately, it’s been Starbucks, which struck a yuppie nerve (male and female). With the lingering recession, I suspect that jokes will have to start with “a girl walks…

  • First love

    First day of  my kid’s summer. First day of  being a FT Mr Mom. It happens! I reflect on Summer 75 when I was looking forward to resettling in Central Pennsylvania. America, Land of the Free. Back then, I was sure the nation was still in a state of shock, and perhaps was relieved that…