As a young girl sitting in her home in the small farming town of Valleyview, Alberta, Lynn Gervais was obsessed with National Geographic Magazine, reading every copy she could find. She dreamed of traveling the world and seeing something beyond the wheat fields of her home province — even collecting old Lonely Planet guidebooks for inspiration. She thought the “big time” would be to eventually find a job in the metropolis of Edmonton, Alberta. Little did she know her passion for travel would eventually land her a job as a hotel industry executive …in Abu Dhabi.

After college, Gervais went to work in the Canadian resort area of Lake Louise. She enjoyed the contact with a worldwide clientele and later transferred to a hotel in Whistler, British Colombia, in advance of the 2010 Winter Olympics. With the global event, her travel ambitions expanded. She took every opportunity to vacation abroad but was still looking for a chance to “fully immerse” herself in a foreign culture.

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View photos In front of the Grand Mosque. (Photo: Lynn Gervais) More

Exploring the worldwide hotel network, she found a posting with Ritz Carlton — in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates. Having passed through the city before, Gervais knew it was cosmopolitan and worldly. Without hesitation, she leaped at the chance — and found herself a stranger in a strange land.

While Dubai was booming, attracting masses of business people from around the world (the population is often estimated to be 90 percent expatriates), the city was having a few growing pains. “You learn patience in a hurry. Rules and regulations were kind of getting made up as they go — the country is hardly 40 years old. And there were almost no addressees there,” Gervais recalls. “New streets were getting created every day. The cabbies were all from other countries, and they didn’t have a clue how to get around either. It made for an interesting commute.”

Hired to coordinate public relations for the new hotel, Gervais discovered there were a few challenges for its unique clientele. “The promotional materials were all from North America. They certainly didn’t have anything on how to organize an Arab wedding reception or an Indian bridal shower.”

When faced with such challenges, she reacted in a typically Canadian way. “It really wasn’t too hard; I just politely asked people for help. Everyone was great. They helped me learn and get settled.” Her Canadian roots posed a different kind of challenge during the hotel’s “come in your native costume day.” While her international co-workers arrived in the flowing, formal national dresses of India, Sudan, Lebanon, and the Emirates, Gervais showed up wearing a borrowed ice hockey sweater and helmet. “That got a few laughs, but I honestly didn’t know what else to wear as a national costume.”

View photos Showing her Canadian style (Photo: Lynn Gervais) More

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