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? – You are currently HERE
