@xman:

VPN is transparent. If your VPN connection is to your home it'll look like you're just connected to your home network: You use the browser and everything else just the way you would at home. Everything is transparently sent through the VPN connection, it's not like an ssh command in the terminal.

(It's also possible to fiddle with the routing table so that something bypasses the VPN and the rest doesn't, but the default setup is that as soon as you engage the VPN connection you're virtually transfered to that other (home/work) network.)