International professional experiences have long been esteemed by universities and pre-service teachers alike. This paper analyses the experiences of six academics who have supervised Australian pre-service teachers undertaking international professional experience (PE), with a view to better understanding the problems and prospects that they encounter during their overseas supervision. The respondents reported concerns about duty of care, blurring of relationship distinctions, and pre-service teachers' and the local supervising teachers' expectations. Using a narrative inquiry approach, this paper examines the interface between visiting academic supervisors or pre-service teachers, and the host culture, against a backdrop of globally normed, Western approaches to pedagogy. The paper also explores implications for support needed for international PE academic supervisors.