OVERVIEW
MERGING BORDERS
As the world gets more and more globalized and travel becomes more admissible, except in the case of sanitary crises, it is inevitable that different cultures increasingly influence one another even more. As a result, working and interacting with people of diverse cultures becomes imperative. Ethnocentrism becomes a common experience in such a world.
It is a phenomenon in which one is focused on their ethnic culture and sees other cultures through their filters. Successful Global citizens rise above these filters and appreciate cultural differences in a dispassionate, non-judgemental way.
OUR STORY
WHO ARE WE?
Open Your Eyes Consulting is a company dedicated to training our clients to effortlessly integrate with different cultures. Our dynamic founder, Diane de Thomasson, brings with her a wealth of experience, warmth, and passion to ensure that our clients are well-equipped to address intercultural challenges of today’s global village.
OPEN YOUR EYES AND GO BEYOND BORDERS
Open Your Eyes to a new world and discover how you can live, work and enjoy life while subduing the symptoms of culture shock! The key to intercultural coexistence lies in accepting where each one of us comes from. Even amongst our differences, we can always celebrate our similarities and move forward together.
OUR FOCUS
WHO DO WE SERVE?
We offer a variety of programs to help those from Europe unravel the mystery of the Asian culture. On the other hand, our programs prepare folks from South to South East Asia to sojourn in Europe.
Our programs are perfectly tuned for expatriates and their spouses, overseas students, business travellers, and tourists. They can be held online via the Visio conference.
OPEN YOUR EYES
Our founder Diane de Thomasson, French raised in Paris has been living overseas for more than a decade, travelling extensively throughout Europe and Asia. As a research scholar and an expat she always felt the pressing need to bridge the gap between cultures with effective intercultural training.
We believe that understanding and appreciating different cultures can tremendously enhance your experience in a foreign country. Diane set up a company dedicated to this cause and to provide the tools to build strong empathy, which is an essential quality to open the doors leading to other cultures. She prepares her students and clients to go beyond the culture shock.
OUR COMPANY NAME
Open Your Eyes, or “OYE” as we like to abbreviate, is a European way of attracting someone’s attention. Especially, in Spanish “Oye” is an interjection used frequently. It is an expression used to reach out to the other person – a vital quality behind a successful intercultural exchange.
DIANE DE THOMASSON
Founder
Diane lived in Singapore for 7 years before moving to India for 6 years and is now posted in South Africa. She developed a great interest in South Asian culture, in particular the Peranakan culture. She worked closely with multicultural teams in the Peranakan Museum of Singapore and the Friends of the Museums Program. In India she worked with multicultural teams and then mostly with Indian teams when volunteering for NGOs and schools.
Prior to migrating to Singapore, Diane completed her PhD in French Literature, focusing on how different cultures interact with each other through their own filters. She spent over a decade working as a literature teacher for students from various ethnic backgrounds.
A dreamer by nature, Diane’s world-view is one of peace, harmony, and peaceful co-existence. Diane has a simple philosophy that charms all those who come in contact with her.
