Hospitality and internationalization-at-home: the intercultural experiences of ‘buddies’ at a summer school in China

Abstract

Like many institutions around the world, Chinese universities have established systems of ‘local student buddies' to ensure international students’ smooth transition to university life in China. This paper examines this underexplored form of internationalization-at-home by focusing on the experiences of Chinese buddies, who host international students at a 4 week summer school. Focus groups were led with 10 buddies before and after the summer school. Focusing on the key concepts of hospitality and interculturality, and using enunciative pragmatics, the paper examines the kind of interculturality taking place between the buddies and the international students.