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: Vietnam

  • La vache qui rit

    Forbes recently printed a McKinsey report about the coming consumer society in Vietnam. In other words, we will soon see La Vache qui rit in supermarkets along side real cows which are still allowed to roam free in the country side. Vietnam 2040 will very much resemble US 1950, when the going was good: chicken in…

  • torn between two places

    Yahoo News had a piece about Diaspora, the return. It features Mrs Nguyen Cao Ky, who is now a proud owner of a Pho restaurant in former Saigon.  She said to have spent a few months in the US, and the rest in Vietnam. Other Viet Kieu expressed similar sentiment: “when I am here, I…

  • 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 .…

  • The Vietnam that could and will

    You can feel it. The energy, aspiration and action. I haven’t seen an idle person here in Saigon. Even people with great disabilities crawl on their hands and knees, through rough and uneven gutters to sell lottery tickets or variety of snacks. Everybody is proud of their native son: Ngo Bao Chau, math genius. The country is…

  • Saigon heat

    Rain and heat, the yin and yan of Saigon. I saw sugar donuts on sale, so I thought of my niece who used to love those melted brown sugar donuts. I tried one. It chipped away my tooth, which happened to be the base  for neighbouring crown. So I had to plant back all three. Costly…

  • Mathmatically Vietnam

    Berkeley is popular with Asian students. Last weekend, I heard that an acquaintance got accepted and would be travelling to Houston to start college. But many young Vietnamese study abroad chose University of Chicago. It is no surprise  that Ngo Bao Chau, the math wiz, pitched his tent there. Windy city. Cold. Home of Oprah…

  • 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.…

  • butterfly in the sky

    Amidst traffic and smog, a black/yellow butterfly dances its way through the intersection, bouncing from motor bike to motor bike. I shouldn’t have paid too much attention to the creature. I need to worry about my safety. But it struck me as odd. All concrete in the city with only few trees left in old…

  • Saigon in motion

    A couch floats down the river right pass Bong Bridge a while ago. As of this edit, there was a “hot” clip about police trying to stop a girl from jumping to her death on another bridge. Vietnam still has to battle with forces of nature, (typhoon Utor) and economic pressures  (bad debt). Here, before…

  • India + 1 cafeteria

    I ordered an iced coffee with milk, this time not in the to-go cup. I just want to sit down, and take it all in. No I am not in India. But close. I am in formerly known as Saigon. On the  8th floor. REBOOT CAFE. The LogiGear building. Offshore software testing center. Young engineers…