I'm putting this here, because i'm asking for help. Not emotional like usual, but help none the less.

I have decided, to apply to be a foreign exchange student to Japan. I've already spoken to my Guidance Counselor about it, and my parents are OK with it so long as its what I want to do. I wanna go for my senior year, plain and simple. Best part is, i'd still graduate, but for a long term exchange, i'd miss my actual Grad ceremony, though i'd probably be included in the one at my host school. However, i'm having trouble finding a good program that will allow me to actually feel like I live there, and that doesn't keep butting in. Alot of people recommended Rotary, so I looked into it. They pay for everything and I get to go... somewhere. Somewhere, as in, wherever they decide to send me. Don't get me wrong, having everything paid for sounds awesome and all, but there are alot of places that I don't want to go, and chances are, i'd end up in one of them.

Other things I learned, are that I have to go to EVERY single Rotary function, sit in a room with other exchange students and talk about our countries, and that I live with more than one family if I stay for a year. Now, they say that they want to immerse you in the culture, the lifestyle, etc. of the host country, but how can you be immersed in the culture and everything, when your constantly being reminded that your there on a visa? I want to go to a country, I want to live with a single family, in a single village/town/city, whatever, and attend a single school. Spend the year with whatever friends I make while i'm there. I shouldn't have to turn then down 6 out of 7 days a week just because I have to attend some function and act as an 'ambassador' as they put it. Thats my beef with Rotary right now.

Sorry for the rant. Thats not what this is about. I just need to know, if what I just said is actually true(Some of that was actually in the Youth Exchange Program PDF file that is on Rotary's website.) or if its not. If not then great, i'll go with Rotary. The 'attending all the functions' was part of someones Q&A session as an answer to a question. If anyone knows of another program that can get me what I want out of a foreign exchange, that'd be wonderful.

Alright, I may be able to help. Im currently in Japan as an exchange student, ive been here for little over a month and will be here for about 11 months. I was in the same boat you were, wanting to do an exchange my senior year but not wanting to miss graduation. Instead I looked into a `Gap` year, so after I graduated from my school in America, I left for Japan to go to high school (credits didn`t transfer, so it didn`t make a difference when I went). Altough the credits don`t count, I can still take the JLPT and get credit hours in college once I return.

As for your desire to feel like you`re living there. In my experience, (not with rotary), the amount of functions and timing between them are actually quite nice. There may only be one every month or two, and most are optional. Even though you want to be fully immersed in the culture and country, going and meeting with fellow exchange students by no means halts your experience. It`s usually a nice break from things,because no matter how sure you are now that you just want to be left alone, once you`re there, being able to speak english and communicate perfectly with other people sharing your experience is a wonderful thing.

All in all, being here as an exchange student certainly makes you feel as if you live here. If you want to be seen as just another normal Japanese student, in afraid nothing can help you there. Coming here is an opportunity to make new friends, that will last throughout your lifetime. And if you didn`t feel like you are going to get the experience you want, why not wait until after all your education and actually come and live here? :)

Sorry for any strange vocab, grammar, spelling, and all around structure of my post. It`s been awhile and this Japanese keyboard is strange ;P Got to head to lunch, good luck and I hope you do end up going!

>>2 So not with Rotary. Sounds good to me. Truthfully, I don't have any quarrel with missing my actual grad. Actually, i'd probably be back before that. I've heard that Japanese Graduation Ceremonies were actually pretty nice. And I do want to feel like a Japanese student, but nothing can change the fact that i'm a foreigner, an American, i'll stick out like a sore thumb no matter what I do. Not to mention i'm 6 feet tall. I'm currently in my Junior year and I hope that once I submit an application, I get accepted and head to Japan before April of the 2013(since thats when I heard their school year starts.). Sure, I won't full complete my 11th grade year, but truthfully all I have to do is finish my grad project and I should be fine. And since your gonna be there for another 11 months, perhaps we'll meet. That is, if we end up in the same place. Starting after Christmas, i'm going to get the Pimsleur Japanese audio courses. According to them, its supposed to teach you the language you want in as many months as the course has sections. Japanese has 3, so it'll take 3 months. Each section has 30, 30 minute audio lessons. Its gotten alot of good reviews, so I figure i'll shell out the money to get them. Hopefully, by the time I get to Japan(if i'm accepted), i'll good enough Japanese that the third section won't be mandatory(Though i'll still go through it if I don't get to it by the time I leave.).

Also, whats it like? You said you've been there for a month now. Whats school like(In other words, is it fun and how different is it from any other school you've been to? Do you live with a host family? If so, whats it like? Or are you staying in a dorm or appartment? And if your there using a Program, what Program was it? So many questions.

And the vocab is fine. I heard about the keyboards over there. I planned to bring my laptop with me, though I know that won't suffice for doing work since it can't do the characters. And as much as i'd like to live in Japan, i'd have to go there first before making a final decision. And truthfully, and this is sorta just a fantasy, if I fell in love while I was there, i'd definitely go back just to be with that person.

This would be a lot easier on an instant messager or something lol. I also forgot to mention, you said you wanted to avoid certain parts of Japan, but I don`t think any programs allow you to have any say in where you go. Finding host families would be even more difficult then. Yeah, you can pick out a foreigner a mile away, but other foreigners are quite rare. When you do see one, you both end up staring at each other just as you would expect a Japanese to do, because, as I said, it isn`t often you see others haha. If your 6ft tall you`ll probably be taller than most people you meet, i`m 6`1 and I haven`t met a Japanese thats taller than me. Japanese is a relatively small country, when compared to the USA. Even if you know people in a different part, it`s not too hard to meet them. Can`t say i`ve ever heard of those audio courses, if you managed to be even half fluent in 3 months though, that would be an impressive feat. I took 2 years of standard lessons with a native teacher before I went, and i`m still not even half way there.

Well, it`s very differnt from American society and culture as a whole, the food is delicious, the people sincere, I could go on for hours. The thing to remember though is: it`s still just another place, with regular people you`d expect to find anywhere. I`m not trying to crush any visions you might have of Japan, but its good not to romanticize Japan. Many other exchange students i`ve met here have done so. Once they get settled in they become disappointed, thats not everything media has made it out to be (mostly anime).

I live with a host family and I attend a rather abnormal high school in Sagamihara. To my dismay, its based off of an American school in D.C., so although it has heavy Japanese influence, the school system setup is very familiar.

Good to know ^^ I brought my laptop, I wouldn`t consider coming without it haha. Also you can use Japanese characters on any english keyboard, its just a setting in windows. I type in Japanese on my laptop all the time, right now im using a school computer. Its hard to court Japanese girls when you don`t know the language ( would you be willing to date someone you can barely communicate with?) thats not to say you can`t hang out with them and have fun though ^^. The most important thing right now for you, would be - finding which program to go with, and applying ASAP, and starting Japanese ASAP! The more you know beforehand the better.

Sounds like you got an interesting school there. /sarcasm. I definitely wouldn't be too happy to get a school similar to one in the US, though you did say abnormal so i'll assume its a rarity. And an instant messenger would be easier, but because of the time zone difference, it'd be hard for us to talk considering i'm on the east coast. Pennsylvania to be exact. And its not that I want to avoid certain parts of Japan, its just that I think some experiences would be better than others and you have to be in the right place for that. Akibahara is one of those places. Computer shops, anime/manga shops, and maid cafe's galore. Sounds like my kind of place. But I also think a town in the country would be nice too. The program, known as the Pimsleur Method, has apprently been around since the 70's. I didn't even hear about it till this past August when it popped up in an advertisement on Youtube.

I never really believed that even the most normal anime were 100% accurate. I mean, they're obviously gonna make it seem like the greatest place in the world, American shows would do that too. As far as the schools are portrayed, I havn't read anything that contradicts that at least, and the fact you can walk, take a train, or bus anywhere you want in Japan. I heard its not like the US, or at least the countryside, where you need a car if you want to go anywhere.

And if you want to learn about the language learning program, here's the link to the wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pimsleur_method

But anyway, the way I picture a Japanese school: Uniforms, take your shoes off at the door and put on slippers, you eat lunch in any room you want with whomever you want, you can stay after school for a while if you want, and the classrooms have sliding doors. Thats how I pictured it. And I really want to wear one of those uniforms.

Now, I must go, I have to get to school. I will respond to any replys when I get home or later.

I'm kinda bummed out now. I just went and looked up like 8 different foreign exchange programs and most, if not all of them, had already passed their deadlines for the Academic Year Exchange. Now i'm also finding out that alot of them require not only around $10,000, but also that I have 2 years of Japanese. There's nowhere near me to learn Japanese, and I have less than 2 years left in my High School career. I'm hoping that I can still submit and application passed the deadlines. I know there was one that allowed it, though you have to pay a penalty fee of like $500. I hate finding things out late. I just became interested this past week, did all the necessary research, set everything in motion, and then find out that chances are that i'll have to wait until the 2014-2015 school year to go. Which I have to apply by the middle of next year. But thats too damn far away. Too long a wait if you ask me. This is ridiculous.

First off, let me apologize for the slight rant above. I got frustrated last night because it seemed that all available programs were past their deadlines. However, I believe that I have found a program, with no deadline, affordable prices, and that will allow me to have the experience I desire. Its called Northwest Student Exchange. They offer both semester, and Academic Year programs. And they offer 3 different kinds of programs. They offer one-way, where you go over and nobody is exchanged with you. Reciprocal Exchange, where you are sent over there, and someone is sent to stay with your family. And then they have Sponsored Exchange, where you can suggest a host family(a friend or family you know) in the host country. So if I had a friend who'd be willing to let me live with them while i'm there, then I could use that program to do so. For that particular program. they also drop the fee's, but not by much. So things are looking alot brighter than they were last night. Ace, i'd still like to talk to you a bit more. I don't know if i'm comfortable giving out either my msn or gmail accounts so we can IM(Mostly because anyone can read these posts and I don't want everyone to have it.), but if need be, I wouldn't mind. I'd just ignore everyone else that used it.

So. Updates, updates, updates. I've finally settled on going with Rotary for my exchange, however, my district only has one spot, so its going to be quite competitive to get in, though Japan should have plenty of spots, so if I do get selected, I have a good chance of getting sent there. Problem being however, is that once i'm selected, thats that. No turning back. If they can't find a place for me in any of my top 3 countries(Of which there is only one.), then they will send me wherever they see fit, and thats not a good thing. I have a tendency to be very negative when I have to do something or go somewhere I don't want to be. So say I get sent to the Middle East, bad times will ensue and i'll likely be sent home. If they send me to the Czech Republic, Russia, or any other Eastern European countries, bad times will ensue and i'll likely be sent home. Western Europe, while it does interest me, its nothing more than a tourist attraction. So all in all, I better get to go to Japan.