Thomasville, Georgia- August 20, 2012

Thomas University in Thomasville has welcomed 17 foreign exchange students from the Southern Region of China.

It's the first year the university has hosted the exchange program.

The students will study at the university for 12 months as they work on completing their masters degrees in business.

The students say so far, the experience has been great.

"This is very beautiful here," said Carl Lai, one of the exchange students. "People here are very nice and this is a beautiful city. It is a very new experience for us, but we want to experience it."

Carl says one of their favorite things so far has been trying new foods, especially the barbecue.

University President Gary Bonvillian says he is very pleased to be expanding education internationally.