Everyone Speaks English!

I know that seems rather obvious what with living in the USA and all, but after living/visiting only non-english speaking countries for the past decade, its very...unnerving being able to hear and understand everyone around you. Whenever I go out I feel like such an eavedropper. And I'm finding now that I'm speaking in a much lower voice, knowing that if I can understand everyone around me, then they can understand me. I mean, in Poland a lot of people spoke English, but its just different here. I hear English everywhere. Even at my old school (which was an international school) I barely heard English outside the classrooms. It was always a mix of Polish, Swedish, Spanish, and Korean. Its two completely different things knowing that everyone around you knows English (however don't tend to speak it) and having everyone actually be speaking it all the time. Does that make sense at all?

Another very strange English thing, is when you turn on the car radio, and actually understand what they're saying! In Poland I never could understand what was going on in the radio, but that was completely normal. I was used to it. Now that I'm in America what was once backround noise is now something that I listen intently to, more out of awe than actual interest of what the radio station has to say. I'm so used to Polish radio that when it comes on now, and I hear English, I always have to do a double-take. And everyone should be grateful that I don't have my driver's license yet. Knowing that I'm so focused on the radio that I'm barely even aware of it when my dad has parked the car and turned off the engine, I don't want to know what wake of distruction would insue were I behind the wheel. All because I can understand the radio.