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: Vietnamese language

  • Brunch w/ a bunch (of jamers)

    It’s my first time at  Van’s Cafe, 46 Pham Ngoc Thach, District 1 Saigon on Sunday morning. And I found myself walking into the door with 2 musicians I know: Mr Hai, on base guitar, and Quoc Dat (blind but extremely gifted jazz pianist, and a student of my now deceased friend.). Before I knew it, people…

  • We can handle the truth

    We here are people who fled Vietnam in various waves (pre-1975, 1975, and post-1975) and have settled in Little Saigon, Orange County, CA. I have seen the strip transformed, from a few stores to be what it is today: patch work of mini plazas interlacing with mobile home parks, often times, reflections of the boom and…

  • Simplicity and humility

    I saw on the  news that the new Pope inspires a group of high school students to reenact “feet washing“. Now, that’s refreshing (no punt intended!) to find news (besides kids shooting other kids, bullying them, DUI, Springfield groper etc…) with some positive twists. I have read about the Jesuits, Alexandre de Rhodes in particular, who worked from a…

  • Human spirit as Motivator

    Papillon is a real-life recount of  an undefeated spirit. Viktor Frankl talks about “they can take my body but not the spirit that is in me”. In war, down the trenches, with bullets zipping by, what causes a man to stay put? No greater love than a man who lays down his life for a friend.…

  • Feminism Vietnamese way

    I have seen them in Ao Dai, on scooters. I have seen them in Ao Dai, holding child, on scooters (perhaps on the way to childcare) before work. I have seen them with child canvassing the street selling lottery tickets. Perhaps I used to be that very child my teacher mom in Ao Dai used…

  • Son Tinh Thuy Tinh

    According to Vietnamese legend, the Mountain God showed up early to ask for the Princess’ hand.  The Sea God was half a step late.  Hence, anger turned tsunami, Katrina, Fukushima etc…. Vietnam Central region always stands in the way of major storms. To endure and overcome natural disasters, people fabricated tales to assuage their own pain. Kids,…

  • Unlikely place

    Ugliness and evil exist in unlikely places. So are beauty and goodness. A vulnerable butterfly dancing in rush-hour traffic, an innocent child on the way home from periodic check-ups. Life offers us not an a-la-cart menu, but a buffet. Fill up not with french fries and jello. Yet at the same time, eat not in…

  • Brain Fiber

    My cholesterol test result was just in. The coast is clear! Two eggs please. I have eaten oatmeal for five years. Fiber here, fiber there. Can’t go near real food, like Soul Food (fried chicken and french fries). Here at UVT, culinary students serve their practiced meals: ordering, preparing, serving and collecting the cash. Long way from…

  • Stress and songs

    The audience sang along, occasionally to the shared mike. We will we will rock you. Tonight gonna be a good good night. Even Top of the World which was a relic from the 70’s. A night at Acoustic, Saigon. A night to release the stress. A night to see Rock rules in a whole new generation. The…

  • Strong in broken places

    I see strength in broken places every day. In people peddling lottery tickets, in pedicab drivers, in xe-om and  conical-hat ladies. They move about under the shadow of high rises here in Saigon. Broken limb and broken dream. Yet I see strength in their struggle. I see resilience where there should have none. Death is in no…