Denise Petschnig and Tamara Koerner still laugh about the rows of lockers lining Kimball High's hallways. Niclas Nissl wonders why people drive their trucks to the grocery store, when a small car would be easier on gas.

But this year's exchange students are already blending into the school and community.

"My first thought was 'it's very beautiful,'" Petschnig, a native of Austria, says of the local landscape. "When you see mountains every day, you want to see something different."

Petschnig is a 16 year-old from the region of Steiermark, a stretch of land ribbed by the Alps between Salzburg and the Slovenian border. She will spend five months in Kimball, then head to Spain for another five months of study. She hopes to be completely fluent in English and Spanish, in addition to her native German.

"For Europeans, it's very important to learn a lot of languages," she explains. English, she adds, "is the international language."

Petschnig is a driven student. She watches little television and admits she's not very athletic, despite working out with Kimball High's volleyball squad.

"I knew I would come to a small city," she explains. "I'm here to learn the language, not to discover New York."

If she allows one distraction, it's Formula 1 racing and her favorite driver, Sebastian Vettel.

"I missed the last race," she says with some frustration. Vettel won the weekend's Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francourchamps.

Nissl, also 16, understands small town life. Although his home is near Hamburg, it's a village of 1,600--smaller than Kimball. Before he arrived for school, however, he spent a few days acclimating…in New York.

"It's like another county," he says of the experience.

Nissl joined the Longhorns football team as a tight end, though he's really a fan of soccer and Bundesliga juggernaut Bayern Munich.

"I love them," he says before launching into a discussion of stars like Franck Ribery. "They are the best in the world."

American football is something new. In fact, he first touched a ball the day he showed up for practice.

"It's completely different," he explains. Learning the formations, learning to run the passing tree, picking up on the game's rules has been somewhat intense. And there's the emphasis on unity, as well.

"Team play and discipline is very high here," he points out. "It's unbelievable--I really think I'll miss that."

Koerner comes from the town of Bubendorf in the German-speaking part of Switzerland. Speak to her for a moment and you'll find she loves shopping and a famous native treat.

"Chocolate," she beams. "Switzerland has the best chocolate ever. And the milk."

American grocery milk is too watery for her tastes. She finds the local chocolate good, an accolade given without much passion.

The 15 year-old does appreciate Kimball, however.

"I like it here," she says. "The people are friendly and open."

She was surprised during the first week of school when other students would waive and urge her to come along.

"The Swiss people aren't so open," she explains.

Koerner visited Disney World as a child. This time around, she has seen Denver and Chicago--and her host family has a trip to Arizona in the works.

"That's very interesting," she says of her travels--though not necessarily for the scenery.

"I love shopping," is how she puts it.