Buses, trains and...lunch in a church?!

The past few days have been filled with just figuring out the little details that we take for granted back home, such as…
 I've managed to open a bank account even though I haven't completely figured out how to solve the issue of getting money from my American account into my UK account. Good thing I have my mom to help me troubleshoot this challenge!
 One of the evenings I had 'take away' from a Chinese restaurant. The gentleman was shocked when I asked for chopsticks. I had to convince him that I actually knew how to use them.
 I've had several lovely visits with coworkers, one of which took me to the most posh teacher store I have ever visited! (Notice I used two “English terms” in one sentence.) You actually had to sign in with all your employment information to prove you were a teacher. We finished shopping with a lovely cup of coffee.
Today, I faced perhaps the one thing I am having the most challenging time adjusting to... not having a car. Joan, Kelly's mom, was sweet enough to start our journey at 10:00 this morning. We first took the bus that would take me to school every day. The stop is at the bottom of a large hill that I am determined to conquer and use as my own personal trainer. We continued on the bus trip into a small town called Brighouse. Joan was excited to show me the stationery store (Hallmark), and she took me to several other essential stores. She stopped me at one storefront to explain the Yorkshire delicacies (pork pies, meat pies, etc). She got a good chuckle when I pointed to some sprouts on a sandwich because they call it crest. Here sprouts refer to Brussels sprouts. Yuck!
We then hopped another bus and headed to the town of Huddersfield. There is a beautiful train station that will take me to most places south of West Yorkshire. There is also a large bus station. We were able to purchase my metro card for the month, which gives me the freedom to get on any bus at any time. This did require a passport picture, which was taken in a photo booth and produced a scary picture!
When Joan told me she had a surprise for lunch, I would have never guessed the location. The surprise was that our delightful lunch would take place in the basement of a church! Appropriately, our lunch discussion turned to our views on religion and faith. The rest of the afternoon was spent touring the shops and getting back on the bus to head home. When I reached home at 4:00 pm, I actually curled up in bed for a nap because I was exhausted! Paying attention to all that information wore my brain out.
The issue of not having a car continues to nag at me slightly. It challenges me to think about how I can simplify my life and be more intentional about my journeys. Where I am located leaves me in need of nothing. There is a co-op grocery store in my neighborhood and there are several good 'take away' restaurants so I never need to worry about food. I have options to get to school by taxi, bus or in an emergency, Kel (Kelly's Dad). I'm learning to navigate such sites as www.thetrainline.com and www.nationalrail.co.uk for journeys by train. In fact, I'm taking the bus and train to visit another Fulbright Teacher next weekend in Glasgow, Scotland. We are then taking the train to the Edinburgh Festival. It is hard to believe that going to another country could be done in a weekend trip!
When I take three deep breaths, I realize that all these little differences will make me feel more empowered in the end. It is really about staying present and putting one foot in front of the other. Cheers!