In the middle of culture shock

I'm still in the middle of culture shock. It's still a bit baffling when the food for evening tea (or what Americans call dinner) is set up buffet style and there doesn't seem to be a queue (line) or any other sort of organized order to get food. That's what happened last night for tea and again for tuck (evening snack). One of the residents, a very nice man, we'll name him "Greg," looked at me and told me to jump in...that there was no queue. I told him that I was beginning to realize that, and that I was still trying to get used to the English rules of queuing and when there wasn't one and when there was one and how to opperate in a queue, etc. He gave me a smile as if to say, "I know what you mean, but I don't know what you mean because all of this is completely normal to me."

...And then there's the driving. The white line in the middle of the road...the one that is supposed to keep people in their lane and from making head-on collisions...is more of a suggestion, or a basic guideline, rather than being a rule or a law. Some will park their car in the middle of the lane, and drivers will have to drive into the lane of on-coming traffic in order to dodge the parked car. Sometimes this happens on both sides of the road, so a driver will have to drive down the middle of the street with parked cars on the left and the right. If a driver is on a road that doesn't seem to be too busy (or, it isn't busy where the driver is), the driver will drive in the middle of the road...straddling the white line. Drivers also go back and forth from one lane to another, especially at round-abouts and other intersection-like places. And let's not even begin to talk about speed limits.... OH! And there are some places where the road goes from two lanes to one. Not one lane for each direction...but ONE lane. It's expected that each car will take turns: first the car headed north will cross the bridge on the one lane, then the car going south, then the car going north.

Despite the differences in driving styles, I've not been scared out of my mind yet. In fact, I've enjoyed riding in the car. It's a bit of an adventure.

Uh Oh--there goes the bell. I think it's about time for me to get ready to head down for lunch. Yes, lunch is called lunch in England unless lunch is going to be on Sunday, or if it's going to be a nicer, finer meal. In that case, it's called Dinner. And Breakfast, as far as I can tell, is always Breakfast. There is a mid-morning tea, though. Today (Monday, 31 August) is Bank Holiday, so I won't get to experience my first tea until tomorrow.

CHEERS!!

EDIT::I've lost a few pounds already! It's the walking about, the vegitables, and the smaller portions, I'm guessing. I'm also not doing any late-night snacking like I used to. I ought to keep this up, eh?