[Yonsu]

This is such a common topic, and I'm horribly sorry for forming yet another thread, but I would like some advice on possibly assuring my parents?

Before I start, here's a brief introduction. =] My name is Annie. I'm 15 years old, and I will be turning 16 in May. I live in Southern California, and I moved over to the US from Korea about a year ago. (However I went to an American international school and am actually an American citizen, so no, it's not like I magically picked up English in a year. XD) Because I'm taking Spanish in school, I'm self-teaching myself Japanese. I'm almost halfway through the first year of a Japanese textbook. I've always been interested in Japan, and although I have quite literally lived only an hour's plane ride away from Japan for almost my entire life, I've never taken a single trip. I never thought of actually going to Japan until last year, when I ran across a magazine that featured the story of a girl who went for a semester to Japan through YFU. That inspired me to look into foreign exchange, and for a while I've been finding out different programs, writing mock applications, comparing costs, and other little things. I hoped to go to a summer exchange program, because although going as a tourist is fun, I wanted to actually 'immerse' myself rather than see a country through a third-person view.

I'd gone through a lot of digging and compared many different programs. This summer, I finally decided that I would try to go to Japan through YFU, one of the most trusted programs in the US. I contacted a few YFU alumni (one of whom is JF member--arigatou gozaimasu!) and an alumni in my high school. I was rather far into completing the application when a relative of mine said absolutely no. I was rather bummed. I knew there was a very big chance of my family saying that was a bad idea, but I had hoped for the best.

I know my age is a huge factor in this one. After all a 15/16 year old isn't the most mature person in the world, and they certainly aren't depicted as mature in the media. I realize that while I'm not an utter bonehead, I've lived my life wrapped up in an academic bubble and never had any real worldly experience. I've grown up sheltered and protected as the baby in the family. But I want to take this chance--not only to experience Japan and practice my language skills--but also to grow up and challenge myself. I know there are lots of risks involved in traveling by myself in a foreign country, and my parents are most afraid of something horrible happening to me as it had happened to other people before.

Would there be any way to assure them of my going to Japan, or am I just being too idealistic/immature/naive/whatever you want to call it? Should I put this off for when I'm older? I would like some input from other fellow JF members. I'm sure this issue has been addressed many times, but I wasn't able to find any threads. Anyhow, I spent quite a bit of time contemplating over what to write and whether or not I sounded whiny, and I certainly hope I did not.

Thank you so much for your time!
-Yonsu