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Local buddies

Updated April 16, 2023

Table of Contents

Who are your local buddies?

Local buddies are local university students and your first Vietnamese friends welcoming you to the country. Oftentimes, your local buddies would be university students currently residing in your program location. They join ABROADER voluntarily with a thirst for learning opportunities and personal growth. Having a dream of studying and working abroad in the future, these Vietnamese youngsters seize the chance of meeting you to gain exposure to international cross-cultural communication and develop their skill sets. Ultimately, they are more eager than anyone to show you the best of Vietnam with the hope that you could fall in love with Vietnam as they do.

Why do we invite local buddies in our programs?

Our mission is to better develop the local community and we target university students as the main stakeholder. We endeavor to help the local students who have no experience abroad an opportunity to improve their English language skills and spread their knowledge about Vietnamese cultures as well as approach other countries in the world.

Through our programs: internships, faculty-led, and service learning, we connect international students with local students in Vietnam, creating a diverse and inclusive hub for everyone to learn from each other.

How can you help the local community’s betterment?

You are a major seed in creating impacts on the local community. Besides contributing to the host organizations as an intern, you can help the local buddies to achieve their goals when volunteering at ABROADER. We hope you are respectful to have local buddies volunteer to help you out when living in a strange country. In return, we encourage you to proactively interact with local buddies and be open-minded to learn about new cultures and share your cultures with them. This is a mutual learning advantage for both foreign and domestic students to learn through peers’ perspectives and broaden friend networks.

What do local buddies do?

The role of the local buddies will vary slightly depending on the type of program you are enrolled in, be it an internship, study abroad, service-learning or faculty-led program. Basically, they will provide you with tremendous support in your daily life, helping you immerse as quickly as possible into the Vietnamese lifestyle. They assist you with other matters arising during your time here, from where to get tasty local food and drinks, how to get to different spots in the city to how to behave properly in Vietnam. They are delighted to spend time with you, share with you about the people and the cultures, and listen to you on your blue days.

Sharing from international students and local buddies

“During the trip I always felt safe thanks to the local buddies and our program coordinator. Provided you use a little bit of traveling smarts I cannot see any problems that should arise on your trip. Each and every one of the local buddies, (our coordinator included), were so kind and caring. You should really give it your best effort to open up and engage with each of them. They are all such great and unique people and provide the best way to truly immerse yourself in the adventure. Furthermore, they are so selfless and are always able to provide advice or help you out with literally anything. You have a golden opportunity to make some truly long-lasting friendships.”
Calen, University of Newcastle, Australia
Vietnam & Singapore Study tour

“Spending time with ABROADER, lovely local buddies and interns made my summer a real summer. To be honest, Covid-19 interrupted most of my plans in 2021. But when I stayed home, I still had the chance to “go abroad”. Together with my team, I enjoyed sharing about Vietnamese culture and welcoming new friends to Vietnam. And because the interns came from different backgrounds with different personalities, we had a bunch of things to keep talking and sharing with each other. Well, the possibility of an in-person cultural exchange program this summer makes me feel super excited. But we know we can’t be sure of anything until it happens. So no matter what kind of program it is, we’re all here to welcome and support foreign interns.”
Phil, local buddy Summer 2021

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