Although researchers have shown interest in international students regarding their academic performance and on-campus lives since the 1990s, their off-campus lives have received less attention. After a period of isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic, countries are resuming social activities and connections, and international students are regaining their mobility to study abroad. In the 2021/22 academic year, nearly one million international students studied at higher education institutions in the United States. On a related note, in recent years, some researchers, public media, and college communities noticed that Chinese international students in particular had a tendency to buy expensive cars in the United States. What these researchers were not aware of was that a small sect of Chinese international students started to dive into the car modification culture in their off-campus lives and made their own community within the larger university communities. Consequently, this present study aims to investigate the role of personal interests for international students as they engage in place-making practices in college communities by studying a group of Chinese international students who are interested in car culture and car modification as they make a place for themselves in a college community in the Northeastern United States. Grounded in Massey's (1994) theories of 'the progressive sense of place' and 'the global sense of place' and leveraged interaction analysis and thematic analysis, this ethnographic study suggests the significance of international students' off-campus lives and provides a fresh gateway for scholars and higher education institution administrators to gauge how to provide more support for international students at the university level. In addition, this study also reveals the potential that international students can influence other local or distant places through the place they made in their off-campus lives. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]