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: Viet Kieu

  • Le Da – Tales of sorrow told by a Rock

    My birth certificate shows my parents in their early 40’s. No wonder my Dad’s taste for music was a bit off. One of his favorites however stood the test of time: Le Da. After all, it has something to do with the rock of ages. It’s very sentimental (Rock solid yet soft when it comes…

  • Saigon vs Little Saigon

    Burger King near the heart of Little Saigon, Westminster, CA is now closed. Burger King at Tan Son Nhut Airport is now opened. Just one of the many striking contrasts e.g. scooters vs wheels nation. Skin coffee vs alley coffee, homeless folks vs lottery-ticket sellers. On and on. People in Saigon have a vague notion of…

  • Juxtaposing

    It just so happens that I am reading Matterhorn and Love Like Hate one after another. The former depicts the Vietnam War from a GI‘s perspective, the later from a Vietnamese viewpoint. Coincidentally, people depicted in both novels came across as victims of an uncalled-for conflict and whose lives were disrupted and devastated. I found glimpses…

  • Dakao vs Dalat

    Both have open air market. Both got some body of water that defines the city. But that’s about it. 6 hours apart, they might as well be worlds apart. Dakao, even without the street construction, can test your patience. Dalat, even with a new bridge construction, can afford its  lake water drained for months .…

  • Flamencing Vietnam

    The rhythm. The ambience. And the audience at Carmen. Different breed. Different beat. The Vietnamese singer tried hard at rolling her Latin “R”‘s, just like her predecessors at the French “un”, or the English “you”. Vietnam, and Saigon in particular, has  always been a mix of culture: Cuban band on Caravelle terrace or Carmen Club nearby.…

  • deja vu

    Yesterday I reposted “Invisible Man“.  Today, it’s about “invisible hand“. There is an invisible hand that definitely plays with events in history, and this Adam-Smith-like hand seems to run out of tricks every 40 years or so, so it seems. In Understanding Vietnam (Berkeley Press), we learn that history seems to recycle itself every 40 years…