I grew up surrounded by three languages - Russian at home, English at school, German everywhere else. As a result, when I was little I assumed that everyone had a family language, an institutionalized school language, and a public street language. When I was four years old and we went to Russia for the summer, I felt a deep violation of privacy upon hearing my family language spoken casually in the street by complete strangers. That summer, I refused to speak Russian to anyone but my relatives. In response to the next door babushka's calls of good morning in Russian, I'd defiantly retort "see you later, alligator!" and take off.