In its constant drive to improve opportunities for its students, Flathead Valley Community College has pushed for more international programs.

In the past, this has meant cruising in the canals of Venice, hiking in the jungles of Costa Rica or walking the streets of Westminster in London.

For FVCC student Zoe Glasser Breeding, another country spoke to her.

“Well, I really liked soccer, and the World Cup was this summer, so that was really appealing to me,” she said. “I had hosted two Brazilian girls in the past, so I went to Brazil.”

Glasser Breeding and 10 other FVCC students spent five weeks in Brazil in the bustling southern city of Belo Horizonte teaching English to Brazilian high-schoolers as part of U.S.-Brazil Connect, a teaching fellowship in the South American Country.

Belo Horizonte, Portuguese for “beautiful horizon,” is a city of 2.5 million people and was host to several World Cup games, including an embarrassing 7-1 loss for the host country to eventual champion Germany in the city’s Estádio Mineirão.  

Glasser Breeding, a 19-year- old biology major from Kalispell, made friends with many of her students. Despite the loss for Brazil, she was able to party in the streets with the soccer fans whenever a match was in town at events called “fan fests.”

That was only when she wasn’t in the classroom, of course.

“I tried to emphasize no Portuguese in my classroom,” Glasser Breeding said. “It was an English-only immersion class. And even then, honestly I was flabbergasted by how much they improved.”

U.S.-Brazil Connect calls its student-teachers “English coaches.” The program is 18 weeks long, with the vast majority spent in the United States, coaching students online via Skype or messaging tools.

FVCC President Jane Karas traveled to Brazil to help get the program started and, according to Glasser Breeding, delivered a very impressive speech in Portuguese.

U.S.-Brazil Connect started in Kalispell in 2013 and 11 FVCC students were selected in 2014, the second year of the program.

These students — senior fellows Monica Peterson and Taylor Keitner — along with first-year fellows Glasser Breeding, Andrea Kavert, Cierra Stehilk, Jeremiah McKessey, Cindy Conroy, Hannah Ruble, Jason Fetveit, Gwendolyn Fratt and Siri Wheeler, established connections and got experience teaching in a foreign country.

U.S.-Brazil Connect only allows about 200 fellows from its six community colleges (including Miami-Dade Community College, Community College of Spokane and Northwestern Michigan Community College), and even fewer to be “senior fellows.”

These are picked from those returning to Brazil, and they help the new fellows become acclimated in the few weeks they are in the country.

The director of FVCC’s International Student Services, Gerda Reeb, said the program was unique among the college’s offerings.

“The program itself is building bridges,” she said. “It’s not your typical study abroad program. The main goal of the program is exposure to culture and picking up skills you cannot get in a classroom.”

For Glasser Breeding, the biggest culture shock wasn’t the language or customs but the food. She’s a vegetarian, and the transition to the carnivore country was difficult.

“Brazil is a very big meat-loving country,” Glasser Breeding said. “I ended up eating a lot of rice and beans.”

Other students more gastronomically inclined found the country a delight.

“Well, my favorite part was hanging out with the kids and exploring,” said Jason Fetveit, a 39-year-old environmental science student. “But I loved going to the market and eating the food.”

The students stayed in a cabin-like chalet after teaching hours, and Reeb said the level of independence the students have is unlike any other study abroad program.

“Each program except U.S.-Brazil Connect are faculty-led,” she said. “Teaching is not everybody’s cup of tea, but they gain confidence as the program goes on.”

In return, some Brazilian students get to experience Montana. That can be life-changing.

“It’s a cultural exchange,” Reeb said. “They are not just impacting our campus, but our community. Some of them had never touched snow in their lives, and then we took them ice skating.”

The application deadline for the U.S.-Brazil Connect program in 2015 is Nov. 30. Apply by contacting Reeb at greeb@fvcc.edu or 756-3889. Learn more about the program at us-brazil.org.

Reporter Ryan Murray may be reached at 758-4436 or by email at rmurray@dailyinterlake.com.