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

  • Madonna and child

    Not the Seine in Paris. But Rach Nhieu Loc in Saigon. She wore a cone hat. Baby tanning in the morning sun, resting in her bosom. The other hand, she checked her messages from a mobile phone. It’s  Thanksgiving in Vietnam. People  have a lot to be thankful for. It’s now ranked second on Happy Country…

  • The normalization of the abnormal

    Some of us who still remember the Cold War remember how easy things were: black and white. Everything else “Third World.” Now, the Third World has emerged. Hence, we live in a multi-polar world. More complicated world. More are at stake. People wheel and deal. Purchasing parity has become less of a parity. Trading up and trading…

  • 2012? Almost

    For those who are now living in Tent City due to Sandy, 2012 does seem like a doom-prophecy year i.e. INVOLUNTARY departure from their homes. Others in 20 States, mostly Red, willingly sign a petition to secede (VOLUNTARY departure from the Federade).  Essentially, they want to vote again. Grow up. We do have to zoom…

  • Spending spree

    Right about now. If the economy is going to pick up, authorities should push spending. Credit card spending. Gadgets are out. Electronic devices miniaturized. Skirts cut shorter even when it says Winter Clothes. Victoria Secret pulled Native American outfit from broadcast. Planned controversy or not, we don’t know. We just know that things are back…

  • Hyphenated Identity

    Last month, during the height of the election campaign, I saw plenty of signage for local board seats. Many hybrid names (Vietnamese-American) which tell me two things: second-generation immigrants are now politically active, yet they still want to keep those last names, to serve as bridges to the old world. Old World–New World. I know…

  • Becoming yourself

    Orhan Pamuk, Nobel Prize Winner, told a story (in the Black Book) about a writer whose wife left him for no reason at all. Restless and sleepless (and perhaps facing writer’s block) he imagined living out his former single self ( the status he now found himself in ). After a while, the mind played trick…

  • Bleed purple!

    Red States Blue States United. Bleed purple. Gotta to reach across the aisles. Gotta to overcome complacency and condescending. The time it takes to come up with a retort could be spent for constructive use. Nobody has the right to the last word. History is dynamic and constantly being re-written. (If you read Church History…

  • All to the payload

    Nothing goes to waste. Neither a minute nor an experience, good or bad. This is not pre-destination. It is how our brain stores and evolves. Millions of calculation, prediction, reflection and reinvention. Like technology which evolves, so do we. We made a mistake. We did it again. Then we learned. Both David Brooks and Jeremy…

  • Least resistance

    Organizations and people in them tend to take this path. Status quo. Business as usual. The comfort of routine. The predictable, mechanical rhythm. Makes the world go round. Until we drop out. One person at a time. Dust comes to dust. But the morgue still sends the bills. Please pay by a certain date, or else,…

  • People, Problems and Politics

    In that order. You just need to navigate the permutation and potential. Great things are accomplished by and through people. Yet at the same time, it’s people who drive us crazy. When a big group with more EGO than ECO, we have faction and division. Cliques and classes. In India, an “untouchable” family finally had…