'In California, it is perfectly legal to turn right on a red traffic light.'

Helen Angove celebrates her first year as a resident of the USA

We have now been in America for almost exactly a year. In some ways it has lived up to its expectations.

Other things have surprised us - and not necessarily in ways you might expect.

So, in order to round off our first year in the United States of America, here are the top ten surprises that awaited our arrival - five this month, and five next month.

1. In California, it is perfectly legal to turn right on a red traffic light

In the Woody Allen film "Annie Hall", Annie and Alvy are discussing moving to L.A. Alvy asks "why would I want to move to a city where the sole cultural advantage is that you can turn right on a red light?"

We must have seen that film any number of times before moving here, and not even noticed that line.

Now it makes us laugh like hyenas. You really can turn right on a red light, and its something I'm still getting used to. I'm so habituated to stopping that I still tend to sit there like a lemon, with an ever-growing queue of impatient cars behind me.

The "give way" rules are different as well, thus turning every non traffic-lighted crossroads into a hazard laden dilemma. My thought processes go something like this -

"… Now, let me see. The red car got to the junction before me, so he has right of way over me. But the blue car got to the line at the same time as me, and he is on my left, so I have precedence over him…. I think… but both of us have to give way to the little old lady who's just started to cross…"

By the time I've worked it out, the other drivers have become bored, and moved on anyway.

2. "Have a nice day"

Being wished "a nice day" by every sales clerk and waiter is not as irritating as I had expected. To British ears it sounds like the worst kind of insincere commercialism, but in fact it is simply an everyday politeness, used as a matter of course by anyone and everyone.

It's not profound or heartfelt, but then neither are the everyday "good mornings", "pleases" and "thank-yous" we use in the UK.

Having said that, people in the US are generally friendly - much more likely than Brits to strike up a conversation in the supermarket or a café. I wonder if this is what has led to the British idea that are Americans are insincere.

To a Brit, perhaps, the level of sociability offered seems to imply a profounder degree of friendship than is actually intended by the befriender. In fact, of course, it takes just as long to make good, close friends here, as it does anywhere else in the world.

3. Television advertising

TV advertising is just different. Lots more adverts for teeth whitening products, drug companies advertise their medicines (adverts for drugs for erectile dysfunction are particularly amusing), and there are frequent ads from opportunistic law firms trying to find clients who might have an actionable grievance against their employer.

4. Guns

It really is completely socially acceptable to own a gun. Every class, book, or information leaflet we have ever come across here about child safety has stressed the importance of keeping firearms locked up in the home.

I commented to another couple at our childbirth classes how this really would not be an issue in the UK - they completely misunderstood me, and thought I meant that the British were lax about firearm safety. It took a while to explain that gun law is much stricter in Britain, and that very few people own a gun.

It turned out, on the other hand, that this couple did own a gun - which they didn't keep locked up, only hidden - and they felt this was entirely reasonable.

5. Not so convenient

I had somehow formed the opinion that the USA was the home of convenience living - convenience food, convenience stores, and so on.

In fact, there are a lot of conveniences that I have been used to in the UK that aren't available here.

Our apartment manager won't accept rent by direct debit, my bank won't let me have internet banking, if you use an ATM other than that of your own bank you are likely to be charged both by that bank and your bank, you can't buy stamps anywhere other than at a post office, and you can't buy the kind of lasagne pasta that doesn't require pre-cooking!

Helen Angove is an Anglican priest from the UK, who moved to California in July 2003.

• Read the final 5 from Helen's list
• Read other Emails from America