For the next four weeks, a group of 20 students from Brazil will be calling Knoxville, and the University of Tennessee, home.

They have come from various cities throughout the country to participate in a program through the university's English Language Institute, to experience American and East Tennessee culture. 

This is the second year that a group from Brazil has been hosted by the university.  As in the previous year, UT's Portuguese department and the student Portuguese language club, CLiP, have taken the opportunity to help them adjust to life here in Knoxville, as well as the opportunity for cross-cultural exchange.

Euridice Silva, head of the university's Portuguese program, explained a bit about the program.

"These students come from all over Brazil, and are part of a very elite group," Silva said. "The program has over 1,000 applicants, and only 20 are chosen."

Both Silva and CLiP planned a reception for the students last week. 

"They had a simliar reception last year, and we thought it would be a good way for all of us to get to know one another," said Adam Hood, president of the club. 

The students seem to be enjoying their time here. Chris Matos, a journalism and public relations student from Aracaju, Brazil is actually on her second U.S. visit. 

"I worked in Pennsylvania at a ski resort in 2006," Matos said. "Knoxville is our first stop, and we will also be traveling to New York and Washington. I like Knoxville because it is very calm."

Other students, like Rafael Tavares, spoke about how Knoxville compares with their vision of the country.

"Knoxville is very different, but I'm enjoying it," Tavares said. "New York is what seems like the typical city in the United States, but it isn't so. I'm wanting to see how people behave here, how their lives are."

"I wanted to see the university," said Livia Rimolos, another Brazilian student. "It's very different and much bigger.  In Brazil, the university is apart from everything, and here, it merges with the city.  Society interacts much more with the university," she explained. 

Among the usual landmarks, she mentioned one thing in particular that she wants to see on her first visit stateside.

"We wanted to see snow," Rimolos revealed. "It's amazing to us because we never have it."