Top students from Brazil learn about American culture at UT

Immersion in another culture can be the best way to understand its people. That is what a group of students from Brazil are learning here in East Tennessee. "Sometimes I get lost here because it's so huge but I love it," said 18-year-old Andressa Bonafe of the UT campus.

The University of Tennessee welcomed 18 top Brazilian students to its classrooms at the end of January. They were selected from more than a thousand applicants for a month long program at the English Language Institute.

But lectures are just part of their cultural education here.

Andressa Bonafe is now a Vols basketball fan. "It's so exciting," she said after seeing the team defeat Florida. "And everyone orange. I loved it!" Carlos Gorito said the people in Knoxville and Brazil are friendly. And he has noticed other similarities.

"Comparing the south of Brazil and Knoxville I think the weather is similar because we also have some cold weather and the the weather always changes," said Gorito. "One day it is raining and another day we have the sun."

The food in East Tennessee has been a bit of a surprise for the students. They have tried new meals and even tasted Native American Cherokee delicacies.

"Brazilians always think we're going to eat hamburgers everyday but it's not like that, you can have whatever you want," said Gorito.

Pancakes were a new experience for Bonafe, along with other breakfast favorites. "I'm not used to bacon and eggs for breakfast," she said. Convincing the ambitious students to eat and sleep is one challenge for program leaders.

"There are plenty of opportunities and lots of things to do in a campus like ours but we want them to slow down and get some rest so they don't end up in the health center or feeling bad for the program," said Jim Hamrick, Phd, the Director of the English Language Institute who is also an instructor for the group. "They are bright. They are energetic. They want to do everything."

The program wraps up the last day of February. Then the 18 students will take home their impressions of Knoxville, and the USA.

"When you are here and get to know people and everything you think and you get in a university environment you go deeper in the way you see the country and the people," said Andressa Bonafe.

Carlos Gorito said, "I think that this experience has inspired me a lot."

A $300,000 federal grant pays for UT to host the program.