The World Wide Web is revolutionizing high school foreign-exchange programs. There's a new matchmaking service on the site run by the Council for Standards on International Travel. Students can look for a program that suits their interests. Families that want to host a foreign student can investigate their options. Schools that want to start an exchange program can seek out partner institutions.

Why go at a time when the crunch is on to take the right courses and earn the best grades for college? "A better perspective on your place in society," says John Hishmeh, the council's executive director. "Kids don't necessarily come back and start a peace foundation, but they have an enlightened sense of how the world fits together." Not to mention a chance to experience another culture up close and gain a little facility in another tongue.

Hishmeh also believes that "exchange breeds more exchange." If parents have gone, their children are more likely to be interested. The same goes for friends and relations. But as a rule, Americans lag way behind. "What's really doing well is international kids coming here," he says.

When students from Muslim countries come to the U.S., they may face a particularly difficult adjustment ahead. Mohamad Bashar Arafat plays a role in preparing Muslim high schoolers who come to the U.S. His organization, Civilizations Exchange and Cooperation Foundation, gives advice on a range of issues, including:

Ritual washing: Bathroom floors in the U.S. often have rugs, he reminds students, so be careful not to splash.

Dogs in the house: "In most Muslim countries," he says, "dogs are watchdogs and not pets. Students may be afraid to have dog saliva touch their hands or clothes; they fear that the saliva makes them impure." He adds, "You just need to wash, and after that you can pray."

Diet: If halal meat is not available, he points out, the Koran "allows believers to eat the food and meat of the people of the book just by saying the name of God." That is, as long as the meat in question isn't pork.

At the group's next quarterly conference, scheduled for February 2009 at the Epcot theme park in Orlando, Florida, Arafat plans to spread his group's "message of tolerance: how in America Muslims live side by side with Jews, Christians, Buddhists, people of all faiths."