So far in this blog series, I’ve survived some pretty classic Swiss challenges. I’ve learned a few Swiss German phrases (and butchered many), experimented with giving compliments (with mixed results), cooked Swiss food (with lots of cheese involved, obviously), and tested the limits of my Latina energy.
But now? It was time to put my knowledge of Switzerland to the ultimate test. Because they say knowledge is power… and honestly, at this point, I’ll take any kind of social power I can get.
Enter: Swiss Trivia Night
Step 1
Study & Prep (a.k.a. Panic Googling & a tiny bit of ChatGPT-ing)
To make sure I didn’t cheat, I asked a friend to help me prepare the quiz, a chaotic Kahoot full of fun facts, history, geography, and the kind of niche information you only know if you grew up here… or spent hours panic-Googling in between classes while questioning your life choices.
My prep strategy?
- Googling “random Switzerland facts that will impress my Swiss friends”
- ChatGPT-ing therapy sessions like “give me weird trivia that sounds smart”
- And accepting that I would forget everything the moment the quiz started.
The thing is… Switzerland has so many wild fun facts. If you want to discover some mind-blowing Swiss facts, check out my latest YouTube Short! Watch it now and let me know if you already knew them! 🎥👇
Step 2
Hosting a Swiss Trivia Night
For the trivia night, I invited a mix of Swiss friends and other expats, because if I was going down, I wasn’t going down alone. And to make it truly Swiss? We had cheese (obviously), wine (non-negotiable), and way too much competitive energy. But here’s the plot twist I didn’t see coming:
- Some of my Swiss friends didn’t know the answers either. The cow’s question? Shock. The soup question? Confusion.
- Others were very proud, finally trivia about Switzerland that they could win at. And that’s when I realized, trivia night was less about showing off knowledge and more about sparking conversations.
Even the most random question (like the length of the Rhine in Switzerland) turned into a whole debate, some jokes, and even a bit of Swiss pride.
Final Thoughts
Does Trivia = Integration?
Let’s be honest, knowing that Swiss soup ended a war probably won’t win me a new friend group overnight. But what trivia does give you is one very useful thing: neutral conversation starters.
Because if there’s one thing I’ve learned about Swiss culture… personal questions = risky.
Random fun facts about cows, lakes, and milk soup? Safe. Reliable.
And maybe that’s what integration is sometimes about, finding a common language, even if that language is “Did you know there are more cows than people in the canton of Uri?”
Curious to read more about life in Switzerland? Check out these posts:
- Part 1 – Introduction: How to Make Swiss German Friends (Or Die Trying)
- Part 2 – Swiss Social Rules: A Guide for the Socially Confused
- Part 3 – Speaking German in Switzerland: A Plot Twist I Didn’t See Coming
- Part 4 – Too Sofía Vergara for Switzerland? The Emotional Gap Between Cultures
- Part 5 – Swiss Compliment Culture: Too Much, Too Soon?
- Part 6 – Swiss Dinner Diaries: Applesauce From a Can and Other Confessions
- Part 7 – Swiss Trivia Night: Do I Finally Understand Switzerland? – You Are Currently Here!
- Part 8 – From Foreign to Familiar(ish): Lessons from Switzerland
Join the Conversation!
Got a weird or fun fact about Switzerland? Drop it below 👇 and quiz us all!
love the fun fact video!🤩
Thank you!! 🧀🇨🇭 I had so much fun making it, might need to do a Part 2 soon!
Understanding fully the culture? sounds like you’re getting there!!
Haha thanks! Slowly but surely, still a bit confused most of the time, but definitely less than when I started! 😂
What a great idea to make new friends (though I might be slightly biased since I love fun facts and trivia nights)! Maybe it can become a fun tradition 🙂
Yesss, I love that idea! Trivia nights are now officially part of my “friendship toolkit”, who knew cows and soup history could bring people together?
Love your trivia night and the random facts! Sounds like a nice idea to connect with other people. I never thought about it, but yes, somehow it’s true, Swiss people don’t like too personal questions. Even I’d love to ask people some private things, but still I cannot overcome the „that’s inappropriate“ thoughts 🥲
Thank you so much! And I totally get what you mean, I still have that little voice going “is this socially acceptable?” 😅 But trivia night definitely felt like a safe (and fun!) way to connect without pushing too many personal boundaries.
Okay but now I want to host my own trivia night! This sounded fun.
Good job, have loved all your blogs!!
The trivia night idea is genius. Might steal this concept!
This was such a smart twist! I love how trivia turned into bonding. We need a trivia night tradition, ASAP
I really enjoyed how you described this blog. Such a cool idea to have a quiz night to bond over 😂