<p>I have found scholarships for these two countries. I would have to write an essay and etc. YFU has a lot of options, but you have to pay a lot more money for other countries. You would have to pay for passport, visa, medical insurance, spending money, etc. </p>
<p>I'm a sophomore and I have never been out of the country. But I have been to a lot of states and places such as Yellow Stone, Niagara Falls, Mount Rushmore, Pike's Peak, Everglades, etc</p>
<p>Here are the pro's and con's of each program:</p>
<p>Finland: You get to go for 8 weeks and see a whole different country. The con is I would miss some school and I wouldn't like that. I also don't know much about Finland and it wouldn't be my top choice, but I would still love to go there. I also get to meet important officials from Finland.</p>
<p>Japan: Japan will be so different! It is in Asia and it's a 6 week program. It gets back before school starts. I would think there would be more sightseeing in Japan. I am not a fish person though, so that can be a problem. I will eat Salem and etc but not my favorite food. </p>
<p>Which country is safer to travel to? Which country would you suggest? Thanks!</p>
<p>Finland is a wonderful place. It’s also VERY convenient for mini-breaks to Russia, Estonia, Latvia and Sweden. When would you go? I wouldn’t recommend Finland in winter, its freezing and there is almost no light. In the summer however it is beautiful beyond belief. I dont understand why you’re asking about safeness. Both are exceptionally safe.</p>
<p>P.S. I cant help but be sceptical, why would you meet important officials from Finland?</p>
<p>It would be in the summer. I know I could go to Estonia for a little extra money. It is a US senate program and you are suppose to meet officals. I think I am going to apply to Japan this summer and I may want to go to Finland the year after.</p>
<p>I went to Japan a couple summers ago and had the time of my life! I did have a fair bit of background in the language from school, but I’m sure not knowing Japanese would be just as fun haha</p>
<p>Yeah, right now my mother won’t let me apply because she doesn’t think it is safe traveling to a foreign country by yourself and living with strangers.</p>
<p>I hope you asked her what she’s basing that remarkably ignorant assertion on. If she doesn’t think Japan and (especially) Finland safe then why on earth is she living in the US, a very dangerous country by European standards?</p>
<p>My mother won’t let me do anything lol! I don’t think it’s that I’m going to Japan or Finland. It’s that I’m going alone and living with stranger who she never met. If I went with her or my family it would be a situation. It agravates me, but “when I’m 18 I can make my own decisions lol!”</p>
<p>early_college, for the Finland program, they travel as a group. Because they start in Washington DC with visits to the Finnish embassy, and then do some stuff together in Helsinki before you go to your host family. Then at the end of the program you all meet in Helsinki again and do stuff there for a few days before flying back to the US together.</p>
<p>So you would fly to and from DC by yourself. But with a group on the overseas portion. You don’t have to navigate the Helsinki airport by yourself – which likely would not be a problem, everyone there speaks English :)</p>
<p>I believe there is someone in country from the program all summer to help if you have any host family issues. No one in D’s group had any problems. One boy was with a family with only little kids, but he was in Helsinki, so made some friends with other teens he met in the city. D was on a farm with host sisters her own age. I don’t recall, but you can ask YFU if they do background checks on the families of any kind, I am guessing that they do (probably home visits and some kind of criminal background check).</p>
<p>Try finding some crime statistics on Finland for your mom, it is a VERY safe country.</p>
<p>Also, she may have issues with you talking about this as a sophomore, but try again next year as a junior. It gives you a year to collect info and put together your case. Be sure YOU are being super-mature this next year as well so she might be able to envision you being able to handle situations that come up! If she is even remotely willing to talk about it and wants to e-mail with me, PM me again (we talked earlier) and I will give you my e-mail so she can contact me directly. I will definitely reassure her that it is safe and a great program!</p>
<p>Thanks again intparent. I’m going to try and convince her for the following summer. She wouldn’t budge this summer. It may be because she is pregnant lol! I also found it a little late and I wouldn’t have had much time to write all those essays! I hope I get to do it in the summer of 2011. My father actually went to Israel in the 80’s when he was 16, but with a group. I know for a fact Finland is safer lol!</p>
<p>I think I will right the essay portion this summer and turn it in early so I don’t have to worry about it when school starts.</p>
<p>There is a lot to that application. I remember it took a long time. D had to write on a topic about Finland (her first essay draft was over 2,000 words, she picked something she had a passionate interest in, and the hardest part was shaving it down to 500 words!). And there were some other essay questions (shorter, I think). But you can’t turn in the essay without the rest of the application. And you need recommendations. It is a great idea, though, to work on that part of the application early, and ask for the recommendations you need early, too. If you do the essay in the summer you will have time to research some topic about Finland in depth. My D was SO determined to get that scholarship, she slaved over her application.</p>
<p>Can you enlist your dad’s help with this? He might vouch for the benefits of a summer abroad. And he might be happy that you want to go somewhere safe AND are applying for scholarships.</p>
<p>One thing to try is find older kids at your school who spent a summer abroad and see if their parents can talk to your mom (especially if they had a good experience!). She might just need to get used to the idea.</p>
<p>I guess what I am saying is, enlist some allies (adults) to subtly help your mom ease into this idea.</p>
<p>My dad tried to convince her. But my mom feels like he just wants to get rid of me and doesn’t care about my safety. She also said, “Where do you find these programs, it’s prob a scam.” I know it isn’t and I told her that I talked to other people and she didn’t care. But I think after some time leaving her alone, she may start to warm up. But when my mom says no, that means no. She wouldn’t let me go to a 5 day program at IU- Bloomington because I had to take a bus (from the airport) to the school myself, much less go to Japan or Finland. I also showed her the crim stats and she said she didn’t care. I told my grandparents and they thought it was a bad idea and my moms coworkers thought it wasn’t a good idea either. I think she knows it is safe, it’s that I am living with a host family whom she never met and does not know. I told her about the background checks and she said they can still be bad. She has never been to Europe, so she does not know how it is. I guess in America were use to the idea of kids getting killed or kidnapped. I would also have to miss the first week of school and that’s not good. My dad asked “When are you going to let him live” and my mom said, “When he is 18 he can do whatever he wants” But it looks bad because my dad would love a vacation from me and he would let me go without researching it. Also, my family loves family vacations and I would have to miss out, I wouldn’t care.</p>
<p>If either of your parents uses the computer much, be sure you send them the web link on the Finland program. It is not a scam! The US and Finnish goverments PAY FOR YOUR WHOLE SUMMER THERE to promote cross-cultural understanding between the two countries. It is pretty much the sweetest deal around for summer programs. Ask your mom, what can it hurt to apply (next year, of course).</p>
<p>I know it’s not a scam, lol! I showed my dad the website, my mom wouldn’t even look! It’s probably all the stress she has been having. But I’m just going to stop asking her and bring it up again in a couple months. I asked her why couldn’t apply this year and she said, “Why apply when your not going.”</p>
<p>But I think I can convince her for next year, hopefully! Thanks again for your help. My parents don’t have a problem with me going to college out of state, thank God!</p>
<p>Here is one more thing about this. I think this program gave my daughter a slight boost in her college apps. Not too many people travel to Finland, and she earned a scholarship to do it. It made her stand out a bit, I think. She had a lot of other good qualities that helped with her admission, but I am convinced that this was a good way to spend a summer because it was sort of off the beaten track. You can make that case, too :)</p>
<p>I thought about that. I just didn’t know how much it would play in admissions. I really don’t have any awards, lol. It should help me, I really hope I get to do it :)</p>
<p>Just saying this might be something you could play up with your parents. It makes your application stand out, as it is not a typical destination and you have to put some real energy into getting the scholarship. My D got more scholarship money (merit money) from her university of choice than their guidelines said she likely would get (her GPA and test scores were under the range for the scholarship she got). I think her ECs (which did have some other good stuff in them) helped her stand out. And I think the uniqueness of her travel to and interest in Finland was part of that. It sure wouldn’t hurt the quality of your college application!</p>
Make an account and visit. This will help you immensely. Best of luck!</p>