What did they say?

Okay, first of all, apologies for no blog yesterday - had intended to but totally fell asleep on the sofa. Haven't done that since I've been here yet...

Today I went to the salon for an appointment. At one point during it there were three people standing right behind me speaking in Mandarin. I have absolutely no idea what they were saying nor what the topic was. I just kept reading my magazine wondering what they were talking about. Then on the way home from the store a little bit later I walked past two guys having a very heated argument in the street. Again, speaking in a language I didn't understand and therefore had no idea what they were arguing about. There were raised voices and a lot of finger pointing but that was all I got from it.

So many people here speak English that I sometimes forget it is not the native tongue for most Singaporeans. I hear a variety of languages everyday on the bus, walking down the street, at the office, etc. but for some reason today it just really struck me that I had no idea what either of those two groups were saying. Now it has me thinking about taking a language course...what better way to practice than to be right in the midst of it?