[huhtenberg]

Nothing impresses me more in people than their fluency in more than one language.

This is the one skill that is so raw and fundamental that it beats hands down everything else a person can ever learn, be it athletics, flying a jet or mastering business management. I worked with a tech support intern who was just starting in the business. He was white, in his early 20s and seemed like of an Irish descent. Then at some point he casually mentioned he spoke Chinese. What blew me away is how instantaneously my opinion of him changed. He jumped from being a smart guy, of which there's a metric ton, to someone I started to respect. Weird stuff, but perhaps it's just me.