I have a theory I'd like to test about the sandbox. If you operate a non-english web site please PM/email me or post here (I'll be tracking this thread). Heck, if you know someone that has a non-english site, please have them contact me too!
rmccarley - Good idea! Maybe a few developed IDNs would do the trick let me know and I can work with you on this.
Well, I didn't hear back from him anyhow. Still - I can answer the question from a Dutch perspective: I've yet to see a Dutch site get into the sandbox. I've even seen a Dutch site recently that got 6 pages indexed without it having a single link to it. It was pretty unique, so that may be it.