The Brazilian and Swiss exchange students will attend Saturday’s Hawthorn versus Gold Coast Suns match at UTAS Stadium thanks to a donation of 30 tickets by the Hawthorn Football Club.

The Hawks have donated tickets to the college for international students for more than 10 years.

Students Noé Reinhardt, Thelma Fris-Lund, and Elea Jossi from Canton of Vaud, Switzerland, are completing 12 months of study at the college to improve their English skills and experience Australian culture.

Elea said students could choose to study in the United State, Australia, Canada, or England. 

“I chose Tasmania,” she said.

Thelma also said Tasmania was her first choice.

“I had never heard of Tasmania before I came here,” she said.

“When they presented Tasmania, it was wildlife, naturing, and really chill and relaxing.”

Noé said watching an AFL match would be an interesting experience.

“I watched a bit on TV and it looks interesting. Rough, but interesting,” he said.

Students Maria Silva Santos, Esther Castro, and Ama Cardiny are from Pernambuco, Brazil. 

They were in Tasmania for as part of the Win the World international language program.

Despite the cool weather, they said the experience had been “wonderful”.

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“It’s been a great experience,” Maria said.

“Many things I did for the first time that I’ve never done before.

“The places that I’ve been, I’ve never seen a lot of these things before. A lot of what we’ve seen has been just amazing.”

Maria said she expected AFL to be very different to the soccer they were used to.

“It will probably be very different to the football that we have in Brazil,” she said.

While in Tasmania the students had the chance to participate in activities such as surfing, mountain bike riding, and visiting the East Coast.