In an iconic scene from Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction, John Travolta’s character (Vincent) says to Samuel L. Jackson’s character (Jules) “you know what the funniest thing about Europe is?… It’s the little differences. A lotta the same shit we got here, they got there, but there they’re a little different.” Many of the Europeans I have met know the exchange by heart.
JULES Examples?
VINCENT Well, in Amsterdam, you can buy beer in a movie theatre. And I don’t mean in a paper cup either. They give you a glass of beer, like in a bar. In Paris, you can buy beer at MacDonald’s. Also, you know what they call a Quarter Pounder with Cheese in Paris?
JULES They don’t call it a Quarter Pounder with Cheese?
VINCENT No, they got the metric system there, they wouldn’t know what the fuck a Quarter Pounder is.
JULES What’d they call it?
VINCENT Royale with Cheese (…) you know what they put on french fries in Holland instead of ketchup?
JULES What?
VINCENT Mayonnaise.
JULES Goddamn!
Continue reading “Little Differences: Some Observations from Europe”
