Belgium = Bizzaro World

The Belgians are well known for their surrealists (such as Magritte, see (my altered) image to the right). But today I experienced a strong moment of Belgian surreality myself.

I'm fine with most forms of culture shock. I can cope with foreign currencies and exchange rates. I've eaten any food offered to me (raw fish, offal, chicken feet). I've been understanding about political differences. I've dealt with differing national standards for personal hygiene. But today in Brussels I was floored by a common cultural reference.

In life, there are frequently "Seinfeld Moments". Moments that reflect, for better or worse, episodes in this classic TV sitcom. (I am not making this up. See here and here...)

As a result, one form of communication within my age bracket is the "Seinfeld Reference". Often, one may use a Seinfeld reference to communicate a whole bundle of sentiments relating to the (often ridiculous) situation you are in.

My Example
So, the other day I purchased a business shirt and the salesman convinced me that it would look fine. Of course, it was too blousy and large, and it made me look ridiculous. At work I commented that it was like the "Puffy shirt" from Seinfeld (a classic episode, a similar situation) only to be met by blank faces.

I thought they may have forgotten the episode, so I reminded the Belgians of the episode where Jerry was forced to wear the puffy shirt after failing to hear Kramer's "low-talking" girlfriend. He nodded politely, and only later learned that he agreed to wear the shirt on national TV.

To my horror, the response was "What is Seinfeld?"


Please, someone tell me this was just an unlucky statistical sample - surely Europeans did not miss the entire contribution to the human experience that was Seinfeld?

Even the Washington Post, a mainstream journal of record, understands my reference:

The Puffy Shirt made him all puffed out, made him look like a buccaneer, like someone who should, as Elaine put it, "swing in on a chandelier." It made Jerry wail: "But I don't want to be a pirate!"

So, is Europe a bizzaro world deceptively similar to our own, the same in most respects except that it lacks the concept of "Seinfeld"?