For high school students it’s a universal truth that McDonald’s is cheap and the best option for broke teenagers. However, when Felipe Vieira saw the prices of the fast food in Great Falls, he was shocked.

“Dude, a McChicken is one dollar!” Vieira said. That’s just one of the things foreign exchange student Vieira noticed was different when he arrived in America.

The school life here is also different than in Sao Paulo, Brazil. There is no homework, but the tradeoff is that there are tests on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

In Brazil, teachers travel around the school and the students stay in one classroom, but Vieira likes that at CMR students form a friendship with all of their teachers. Teachers here decorate their classroom and make it their own, often making that the first impression students ever have of that class, he said.

Vieira also enjoys the feeling of a small town in contrast to Sao Paulo.

“It’s better to live in a small city because it’s easier to go to places,” he said.

Additionally, many people in Great Falls are used to the way everyone gets treated here, but Felipe said he is pleased with Montana’s respectful way of life.

“Great Falls is a safe place, and the people are more respectful,” he said.