Multilinguism: is it special?

As most of you have probably guessed by my name, English isn't my first language. For a long time in primary school I thought it was a bit weird that no one else spoke another language with their parents. Even as an Australian citizen, I still felt quite ostracised from my friends, especially when their vegemite sandwiches  (the grossest thing I've ever eaten) sat next to my pastellitos. Somewhere between primary and high school, speaking another language became special. People would ask me to say sentences in Spanish. I was able to pick up a third language -Italian- quicker than my classmates. My initial defect was now seen as a talent.

A portion of my bookshelf. Currently reading Il Diario da Anne Frank and really enjoying it.

This all changed when I went overseas to the United States. Sitting in an American diner, the waiter would suddenly join in our Spanish conversation. In Disneyland they play rides' safety instructions in at least five languages. I felt smaller still when visiting Italy this year. Italy's economy depends on tourism thus, most retailers I encountered spoke multiple languages pretty fluently. I realised pretty quickly that my supposed "talent" wasn't so special after all.

Don't get me wrong, I love Australia to bits. It just seems to me that for a country whose original owners spoke over 500 languages on the one island, our attitude towards cultural expansion has diminished somewhat. Languages are seen as a talent and non-essential. I personally know immigrants who have "Australianised" their name into its English equivalent to make life easier. Much is lost in translation.

I wonder if any of you have had a similar experience where your talent is found to be common somewhere else? How many languages can you speak? Is it even important? Let me know. Also check out this great video which I found  about being bilingual.

Ciao!