BUCKFIELD — The local high school’s four foreign exchange students plan to cook up some special holiday dishes from their home countries when Christmas arrives.

And German student Magdalena Deutinger, 16, has found a Maine treat that is hard to surpass: the whoopee pie.

“You have to try them,” she told Luiz Vidal, 16, of Brazil and Dongmin Seo, 15, of South Korea.

Julia Shirinkina, 17, of Russia had tried them and totally agreed.

Magdalena and Julia share the same host family, Tia and Seth Roberts of Turner. Dongmin and Luiz also share the same host family, Linda Rowe of Mexico.

All four are spending a year at Buckfield Junior-Senior High School in a foreign exchange student program.

When Julia first saw the small towns as she flew into Maine, she said she thought they looked just like in the movies. She was surprised at how kind and nice the people are.

“When you’re in a different place, you expect something else,” she said.

Although Luiz misses the advantages of living in a big city, he does like the small school.

“Teachers care more about the students,” he said.

Dongmin loves the food and wanted to learn more about the United States, which he said was the strongest, biggest and best country. Magdalena is the only one of the four who did not come from a large city.

Her first impression was how big nearly everything is, and how much choice the stores offer.

She first decided to come to the Untied States for a year after reading a magazine about the possibility. She thought she’d like to learn more about U.S. culture and traditions.

Luiz said he wanted to learn the same things, as well as to improve his English.

Julia plans to make a traditional dish of bellinis, which are crepe-like pancakes stuffed with jam and sprinkled with powdered sugar. Magdalena will cook apple strudel and a German cookie called vanillekipferl, which is a small, crescent-shaped cookie made with ground nuts.

Most have tried something new that they could not have done at home. Julia took up golf, which she said is not popular in Russia, as well as piano lessons. She entered and won a competition at home to come to the U.S.

“I want to meet new people and learn something new,” she said.

Dong played soccer and hopes to go out for baseball in the spring. Luiz doesn’t like waiting for the seasons to change because the climate stays pretty much the same at home.

Last month’s snowfall was his first experience with it. It was pretty, he said, but too cold.

The four like the number of activities students can participate in at the school and feel a bit restricted without public transportation, but really appreciate the policy that issues a laptop computer to all secondary students.

Classes are easier here, Julia said, but she’s never bored.

“I get to draw, write, watch films,” she said.

When they return to their home countries next June, most will share some of what they learned with others who had similar experiences.

Dong really likes hamburgers and that he doesn’t have to attend additional academic classes after regular classes here as he does in his home country. Julia likes the myriad products Americans have to choose from. Luiz has decided he likes large cities better than small ones.

And for Magdalena, she finds Americans very easygoing.

“They don’t judge as much and they are nicer to each other,” she said.