Headlines/Sept. 6, 1991

Erling and Virginia welcome greenery after two years in desert

If there’s anyone at Fraser Valley
College who won’t be complaining if
this fall is a rainy one it’s Dean of
Educational Support Services Erling
Close.

Close and his wife Virginia, former -
secretary to the board, recently returned
from a two-year stint in the city of
Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.

After travelling a good part of the
world on his way back to the Fraser
Valley, Close has concluded that “there
are very few places that are as good and
as green as this.”

Close was in Dubai on a two year
contract as head of support services at
the Dubai Women’s College. The
college had not yet opened when he
arrived, and he was given the task of
setting up the admissions, counselling,
registration, purchasing, facilities
management, food services, and library
systems.

“IT was shown a former
Mercedes-Benz show-room and given .
four weeks to transform it into a
completely finished college, ready for
instruction,” says Close.

Apart from the administrative
challenge, Erling and Virginia also had
to adapt to a new culture and climate.

“I guess the climate was the first big
adjustment,” notes Close. ““When I first
arrived in July, the temperature
exceeded 40 degrees centigrade, and it
was extremely humid. My glasses were
constantly fogged. However, most of the
year the climate was like our summer, so
I feel like I’ve stored wo 20 years of
sunshine.”

Dubai is predominantly a Muslim —
city, but because 80 peicent of the
population is expatriate, it is much more
multi-cultural, cosmopolitan, and
permissive than many Arab countries,
according to Close. “But, by North
American standards, women are still
treated very much as inferiors. It’s fair
to say that Virginia had a harder time
adjusting than I did.”

Close took advantage of the nearby
ocean by going sailing, and scuba
diving, and also took up “wadi-bashing”
— driving jeeps through dried-up creek
beds, or “wadis”.

”

Saddam Hussein further complicated
the Closes’ stay by invading Kuwait last
year, and caused a few nervous months
for everyone in the Middle East.

“Tn the beginning, when we weren’t
sure how far Saddam would go, or if

>

Erling Close with two students

Iraq would use chemical weapons, we
felt very much in danger. We were only
14 hours by tank from the front. But we
chose to take the advice of the Canadian
consulate, and they never called for an
evacuation.

“Like many others, we were glued to
CNN, and fascinated but appalled that
the situation had to come to this kind of
climax. Because we knew a number of
Iraqis, we were aware of their suffering
and that they did not want Saddam’s

”

war.

The college was set up by an
all-Canadian administrative team, and
the curriculum was based on an Ontario
model, so, with some exceptions, it was
more a case of students adjusting to a
Canadian education system than
Canadians adjusting to an Arab one.

“The language of instruction was
English, so the students faced the
problem of learning in a second
language,” Close notes. “Some of the
students also lacked the basic skills to
cope with the Canadian curriculum in
terms of reading, writing, and
computing, so a special foundations
program was developed for them.”

The college offered technical courses
in areas such as business management
and health sciences. One of the main
differences from FVC was the gender
segregation in the U.A.E. college
system — all 250 students were women

at Close’s college, and a similar
institution was set up for men.

“Many of our students had never
been taught by a male before, but the
Emirates are pretty liberal compared to
other countries,” says Close. “In Saudi
Arabia, males lecturers teach women by
closed circuit TV, and in Kuwait, male
and female students sit on different
levels in auditoriums and use separate
entrances.”

Close found his two-year Arabian
sojourn worthwhile — “after 14 years at
FVC it was a welcome opportunity fora

refreshment,” — and recommends that

anyone who has the opportunity to work
in a different cultural setting should try
it, but warns, “I wouldn’t recommend
that the motivation be to make money.
There are a lot of hidden costs in
working offshore.”

Now that he’s back, Close says his
main challenge is “catching up with the
past two years, and all the changes.”

Meanwhile, Virginia has taken ona
new challenge and is working as the
executive assistant to the superintendent
of schools in Agassiz.