One time, vacationing in Holland, we unknowingly arrived the day before the Queen's birthday celebration. All the stores were closed, having moved their wares to the streets and sidewalks. Most had some speaker system set up and they were announcing all the fantastic items they had for sale. Totally blown away we were - there were many who were switching from Dutch to English, to Spanish, to French, to Portuguese, to Russian, to German, to . . . you name it.

When I attended school here in the --'s (fill in the blank if you dare) I never had the opportunity to learn a foreign language. So I was amazed that Europeans have such a broad scope of education . . . something we 'Mericans have yet to offer. It's a shame.

Also, having married a man whose native language is Spanish you would think that I could speak it, too - not to happen. Oh, I know enough to find and order some good food, find a telephone, taxi or bathroom . . . enough to get me in big trouble. I find I can understand more than I would dare to try speaking. Wanted DD to learn Spanish but the grandparents were busy learning English and wouldn't speak Spanish to her . . . she had a babysitter who did and she started learning . . . until she went to pre-K and the kids laughed at her because she spoke a different language. No more Spanish until high school. Now she sees the importance and the girls are learning, as well as learning Latin . . .