<p>The above poster’s have great suggestions, but I would really encourage you to try for a year program. I’m considering applying to Rotary’s year abroad program for the 2010-2011 school year, and its supposed to be an amaaazing experience! plus, its basically free. For my district, the outbound fee is only about $1500. If you aren’t able to convince your parents about the year abroad, you can also look into rotary’s summer programs, which are also very inexpensive. Usuallly, for the summer programs, you spend a month in another country with a host family, then return to the US and host an exchange student for a month (its called a reciprocal exchange). Good luck with everyhing :D</p>