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”.

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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

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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

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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.