I work at a university. I normally go to lunch with my boss. It's a good time to get out and talk about non-work things, or sometimes even work things we shouldn't talk about. When we head out together, I don't usually pay too much attention to my surroundings since we're talking to each other. He was occupied and so I went alone yesterday. In the 20 minutes it took me to walk to the student union, wait in line and order, and walk back, I heard (in conversation, not just students doing homework or anything) American English, Spanish, Italian, French, German, Russian, some form of Chinese, some kind of Filipino, and Australian English.

The American I heard all over -- nothing new here. Spanish, same deal, except the older gent and young woman speaking it looked like they were from Spain, not Mexico like you'd expect in Southern California. It was like dad and daughter from Barcelona were seeing the school.

The Italian I heard was from two very well-dressed middle aged ladies. They reminded me of the kind of people you'd see in Vegas. One had on a cream-colored blouse that reminded me of something my mom would wear. It had sparkly stuff on it up at the left shoulder area and she had on some large jewelry.

The French came mostly from a young woman in an elevator. She had on a geek t-shirt, and was talking with a young man who, I guessed, was not a native speaker.

The German was in the lobby of my building. A group of three young men (and one woman who said nothing) were standing around talking. Even though I speak a little German, I didn't catch anything recognizable. I was a little far away. Oddly, I pegged them as Germans by how they looked before I heard them talk. Young Germans have a certain look about them that you can spot from up to three miles away (and that's without a track suit). I came out of the elevator and they were across the lobby, and I remember thinking to myself "Heh heh... those guys look like they're trying to be Germans..." and then I heard them.

The Russian was from a very old woman and a slightly younger woman and man. They looked "professor-ish". They were in front of me at Subway. They spoke English with almost no accent whatsoever. I remember being impressed.

The Chinese and Filipino both came from two separate groups of young girls carrying books. At least I think the one set were Chinese. I'm no expert at Asian languages, but they looked to be Chinese (as much as any Westerner can guess at such a thing) and it sounded like they were speaking in a language I'd heard before as being Chinese. They were getting salsa at Rubios when I heard them. They didn't giggle at all and were very somber. I don't know why it struck me that they didn't giggle, it just did. Usually when you see a group of young Asian women, they are pretty happy. The Filipinas were walking out the door to the student union at the same time I was. They headed into the bookstore and I only heard a little bit of their conversation. They mixed English into their conversation.

The two Autralian dudes were jabbering on about quantum foam and getting pretty animated about it. I was walking behind them, as they were also headed back to the Applied Physics and Math building where I work. I got to hear more of their conversation than anyone elses (it also helped that I could actually understand it). One of them was carrying a new iBook, the other had really wiry hair.

It's cheesy, but I think it's pretty cool to be able to work in such a place.