Driving
(This section is based on my experience and knowledge of Caifornia. It might not be true everywhere.
Driving is different. For a start, they drive on the other side of the road here. That's not the hard bit - you just follow everyone else.
Freeways often have a lower speed limit than in the UK, but they can get very, very crowded, and continue at almost the same speed with small gaps in between cars. You need to get used to muscling in to gaps when you want to change lane - particularly when exiting.
Speed limits are very ambiguous. Officially in California they are 25 in urban/residential areas, and 35 on bigger streets, but there doesn't seem to be a clear distinction, so it's hard to know what the speed limit is.
There are lots of traffic lights, and very few roundabouts. Traffic lights go from green to yellow to red, but if it has only just turned yellow, don't stop. After I arrived I heard screeching tyres (tires) behind me more than once, because someone wasn't expecting me to stop.
When the lights go green, there is no intermediate yellow - they go from red to green. You then have about a quarter second to move, before someone beeps their horn behind you. People beep their horns a lot more than in the UK - it's unnerving to start with.
Pedestrians always have right of way at corners, whether there is a crossing or not. If you are standing on the corner, and look like you are going to cross, cars will stop. However, if you're driving, you need to be aware that people will step out with no warning.
On the freeways, you need to be aggressive and get into gaps. At crossroads and corners, it's the opposite - you need to be calm and relaxed. The most difficult one (I thought) to get used to is when turning left, without a filter - you wait for a big enough gap and then shoot through it. And then you see the pedestrians, who have right of way and weren't worrying about you. Similarly, when approaching junctions to turn right, you need to slow almost to a stop, to make sure that there aren't any pedestrians around. On the freeway, one almost has to be aggressive (compared with the UK), off the freeway, one has to be much more relaxed.
Before you can do a lot of driving, you will need to take your driving test. These vary from state to state, and you can find stuff out on the web about them. Driving tests are considerably easier than in the UK.
Petrol
Buying petrol, or gas, as you have to learn to call it, varies from state to state, so what I say here won't necessarily be true wherever you are.
First rule, don't forget to call it gas.
Second, some gas stations will have two sets of pumps, one is self service, the other is served. At the served one people will climb over your car cleaning the windows, and offering other services. You pay more for this gas. I'm not sure if you are supposed to tip the people who do it. (In some states, there are no self service gas stations.)
In most, but not all, states, you need to pay in advance. There is usually a cash point type machine at the pump (or sometimes shared between a number of pumps). I find this slightly nerve wracking, as I'm never convinced that I've entered the correct number or let the machine know I've finished. I have visions of the person behind with the enormous SUV putting hundreds of dollars worth of gas in their vehicle and it getting charged to my card. You can also pay in cash in advance at the till - if you pay too much, you get change.
Distance
People think less of driving a long way to do stuff. That's partly (I think) because gas is cheap, and partly because it is a long way to places. Someone asked if we wanted to go to a park and see some wild flowers with them - we'd spend an hour or two there, and then come home. We agreed, before we knew it was 90 miles away.
Trains
Rumour has it that they exist. I've never really managed to use one.
Buses
Buses vary from city to city. In Los Angeles, they are cheap (usually 75c) but and reasonably plentiful, but they are stuck in traffic, the same as all of the cars. They also don't have a huge number of routes, which means you'll often need to change bus, making even relatively short journeys pretty arduous.
I've heard that they are better in other places.
Subways
LA has a subway, which famously goes from where no one lives to where no one works. I've never been on it.
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