Internationalization in higher education can transform institutions by introducing individuals from new cultures that challenge and enrich administrative and academic life. This duoethnographic study highlights experiences of teaching, learning, and service work in the borderlands that exist between the global and local influences on higher education institutions in Japan and Korea. This project is rooted in the academic experiences of two scholars that emphasize the power of reflection as a tool for developing the work of emerging scholars working abroad at the undergraduate and graduate level in international settings with both local and foreign/international exchange students. More specifically, this research is designed to support international faculty with experiences and strategies that will help them acclimate and excel in their new foreign context. We advocate for a more localized, contextually relevant, and individualized approach to preparation for work abroad, and research that balances professors' cultural identities, life stories, and experiences as sources of knowledge and development with the culture and practices of their host institutions.