Cross-cultural event volunteering: Challenge and intelligence

Globalization and increasing number of international events makes cross-cultural volunteering a popular phenomenon when combined with the greater mobility of people. Focusing on a volunteer's experience at four events in New Zealand and China, this paper aims to explore the challenges and intelligence that encountered at such events. Earley and Ang's cultural intelligence framework is used to explain what contributes to successful cross-cultural volunteering experiences. Drawing upon the autoethnographical data and a critical discourse analysis of volunteer handbooks and emails, the results identified a four-dimensional schema to explain the auto-ethnographical perceptions of what is termed a 'dual' volunteer experience. The analysis suggests that cultural intelligence leads to an enhanced experience, while a lack of intercultural effectiveness leads to challenges. Recommendations for cross-cultural volunteering practice are also presented.