How many languages do YOU speak?

I had one of those life-reaffirming experiences last week at dinner. These come along every so often and remind me that maybe I havent been wasting my time for the last 9 years, since I took up the hobby of language collecting... why it may actually have been useful for me to have squandered away so much time in foreign countries, muddling my brain with too many Tongues. They are constantly warring away in my head for a higher foothold. I can hear them now:

Oye cabron, estas en medio! Yo llegue primero!
Es ist mir Wurst, sie kann viel besser Deutsch, lass mich durch!
Hey, Im her mother tongue, doesnt that count for something?
J`en ai marre... moi, je suis FRANCAIS!!!! Vous ecoutez? FRANCAIS, j`ai dit!!!!!
静かに！日本にすんでいる。日本語をしゃべて！！！

Anyway. This dinner was organized by my good friend Kohinor, who is an exchange student here from Mexico. Present were myself, Kohinor, a Frenchman, a Japanese woman, and a Hungarian couple. Here was the language break-down:

Kohinor speaks Spanish and very good Japanese and some English. We talk in Spanish (he talked to the Japanese girl in Japanese and to the French guy in English or Japanese). Rachid spoke French, Arabic (of no use here), some Japanese, some English. We spoke in Japanese or English until he wanted to explain something complex, and then he reverted to French. The Japanese girl spoke elementary Spanish. We spoke mostly in Japanese. The Hungarian woman spoke Hungarian with her husband, but also excellent English, Spanish, and Japanese. We spoke in Spanish. Her poor husband just sat there and ate in silence, as she had apologized and explained at the beginning of the meal that he spoke neither Spanish nor Japanese. Halfway through the meal, however, it came up in conversation that he did, infact, speak German. Oh joyous day. He was promptly reseated to be next to me.

Though this evening did leave my brain in a complete linguistic muddle, it also left my belly full and my mind at ease. It hasnt been in vain! The languages cried in unison in my head.

Five languages DO come in handy sometimes. And I didnt even have to test my shaky Italian.