Imagine your attempts to prepare a meal in a friend's kitchen. You don't know where anything is - utensils, bowls, plates, placemats and glasses, among other necessary items. Now consider what it's like to venture overseas for an extended period, during which time you'll participate in a home-exchange program. You're not only residing in a stranger's house, but you're a stranger from another culture in a foreign country.

The question of where everything is located is just the beginning. What are the local standards of cleanliness like? Do they match yours? Can you drink the water? Where do you put the trash? Who do you call in an emergency?

Your obligation as a home-swapper, first and foremost, is to leave behind a clean house. Don't leave it in any condition in which you wouldn't want to live. If you've prepared for this experience properly, you've communicated your sentiments to your guests in hopes that they've taken the cue.

The advantage of many home-exchange programs is that they facilitate communication between home-swapping families long before the respective parties travel overseas to begin their temporary residencies. Barring any language barriers, then, you each have the opportunity to communicate the important points ... and there are many. It's likely that you'll forget to include many essential items because you take them for granted in your daily routines.

You can prepare your guests as much as possible before the home exchange, but inevitably, you'll overlook some important items. For this reason it's absolutely essential that you post all of your contact phone numbers (the number to your guests' permanent residence, of course, is the one they'll most easily remember) in a prominent place in your own home, enabling them to reach you if necessary. In the event they can't reach you, you'll also want to leave for your guests the telephone numbers of a couple of close neighbors, friends and/or family members in the area.

If you can discuss the following points with your guests ahead of time via e-mail, you'll be helping them prepare for their visit to the United States and their stay in your home. Regardless of whether you not you communicate in advance, however, you should leave behind a detailed laundry list of such important items as:

• Where everything is located. This isn't easy when you begin to consider your kitchen, bathrooms, living room and everything in between - not to mention your back yard. That's why you need to start working on this item well in advance of your departure date (and your guests' arrival date), keeping a running list of items they may need -- fire extinguisher, cleaning supplies, towels, sheets, fire and police numbers, etc. You don't have to write an essay on each item; just list them. Nor do you have to list every item in your home. Just be as thorough as you can.

• If you're not technologically savvy - and let's face it, many of us aren't - home appliances such as the coffee maker, the washing machine, the microwave oven, the remote control and the alarm clock are likely to puzzle you. The same goes for your guests. Jot down a simple "how to" for your major appliances. With any luck, you've saved the instruction manuals that came with each one of them. Leave them for your guests to help them if they ever get "stuck."

• List (perhaps on a wipe-off board on the refrigerator) the telephone numbers of local resources: the dry cleaners, grocery store, library, a couple of good nearby restaurants, cab company, public transportation and/or an auto repair center, for example.

• You may also consider leaving behind some suggestions for local entertainment - movie theaters, shopping centers, cultural opportunities - as well as a map to help your guests find these spots. A city guide would be of great help to your guests, whether it's published (this makes a good housewarming gift and goes a long way toward establishing goodwill) or if you merely suggest a few good local Web sites (provided your guests either have a portable computer or have been given permission to use yours).

• Are there any areas within your home in which you'd prefer that your guests didn't venture? You can state those preferences, although it's hardly fair to rope off large portions of your house and expect your visitors to stay away from them. Certainly, however, you have a right to ask guests to stay out of the closet in your home office, for example; or the storage closet in your bedroom. Better yet, if you truly have any items or papers with which you wouldn't trust a total stranger, store them away (in an out-of-the-way place or with a friend or family member), or lock them in a safe until your return.

Begin the communication process early with your home-exchange partners, be clear about your expectations, and show your guests the highest courtesy in your own home. Chances are good they'll return the favor, and you'll find that cultural immersion isn't the only thing you gain from the home-exchange experience.

For more articles by Courtney Ronan, please press here.