Rosmary, known as Roosi on the island of Kihnu, is a student at Rapla Vesiroosi School. While she initially had her sights set on an exchange to the U.S., Roosi did some research and realized she'd fall behind on school back home.

Instead, she wanted to experience what it was like to learn in a much smaller class setting.

"My own school is really big, with around 20 students in each class," Roosi said. "Here, there are only 20 students in the whole school. I thought it'd be really interesting to see how that works."

Before the exchange, Roosi had never even visited Kihnu, a small island in the Gulf of Riga covering less than 17 square kilometers.

Now she is just the second student in her class at Kihnu School, and she loves how closely students from first through ninth grade are connected.

"It's basically one big family," she said. "That's so sweet."

'They've been so helpful'

During her two-week stay, Roosi also has to keep up with assignments from her school back home. She was initially worried about falling behind on her work, but said Kihnu's teachers have gone out of their way to help her stay on track.

"They've been so helpful and have made time to help me keep up with my other schoolwork too," she added.

Asked about what she misses from life on the mainland, Roosi admitted she misses shopping, her family and her dog. Her host family at Kolde Farm has its own dog too, however, along with some 200 farm animals, from horses to highland cattle.

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