Embodying transformation through the mundane : an affective autoethnography of international student experience in Rovaniemi

Abstract

International students experience tourism as both hosts and guests. These experiences outside their home countries often lead them to internal transformations, such as adjustment and acculturation. Their learning journey, however, is a more complex and ongoing process; hence, I aim to understand the detailed longitudinal processes of international students’ experiences in the tourism context. This research is guided by Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenological body. Building on his ideas, embodied learning experience in affect and movement is set as the theoretical framework, which posits transformation as a continuous, relational, and sensory process. Guided by this perspective, the study is organised around two main research questions: (1) How do international students experience tourism through their embodied practices during their stay? and (2) How do international students learn and transform through the affective embodiment of their everyday lives in their destination?

Affective autoethnography is used as the methodology of this study. I disclose my learning diary with my body reflexivity, which pays attention to the awareness of bodily senses and movement in my experience. My personal stories in Rovaniemi illustrate that international students experience tourism in various ways through mundane practices at the destination. Through these tourism experiences, I have learned together with multiple others, and my body has become embedded in the entanglement of Rovaniemi. These learning experiences demonstrate that the transformation is a dynamic and continuous process that is deeply connected with the material and situated world. Revealing this entire process in my research could provide insights into tourism as a potential opportunity for reflexivity, where students may encounter new possibilities and perspectives through experiencing the mundane activities of the destination.