Swiss National Day is coming up! Let’s talk about what happens on the big day and what it means to the Swiss. We’ll help you figure out how to mark the occasion even if you haven’t been in Switzerland for long. We also have some new features in our podcast for you: “Swiss bytes”, listener feedback and our survey. Let’s get stuck in and don’t forget to send your questions to hello@swissandchips.com or send us a voice message to play on the show to +41 76 282 67 66.

• Listener feedback and our last survey about Swiss queuing culture

• Swiss bytes:

  • US Marine reacts to Why the Swiss love their Guns (more than Americans)

  • Another interesting Video about Why Switzerland has 370 000 bunkers.

  • Da chönt ja jedä cho

• 1st August: What to buy and what to do

Da chönt ja jedä cho

Fun with Flags

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How do you cope with the chaos, confusion, and frequent frustration of queuing in Switzerland? In this episode, we explore Swiss queuing culture and share our experiences and advice on how to survive and possibly thrive in the chaotic queuing land of the Alps. We have some horror stories to share that you might be able to identify with. Whether you’re a newcomer, a visitor, or a long-time resident, we hope this episode will help you to navigate Swiss queueing protocol, or at the very least, give you a laugh.

• Suzi LeVine complaining about queuing in Adelboden.

• A discussion on Reddit about Swiss queuing culture and even if it exists at all.

• Hundsverlochete

🎧 Subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play Music, download as an mp3

💬 Find us on Threads Swiss and Chips, Jo and Simon

📸 Follow us on Instagram

✉️ Drop us an email: hello@swissandchips.com

📞 Send us a voice message to play on the show +41 76 282 67 66

🗣️ Let us know what you think about the episode and leave a comment

💬 Find us on Threads Swiss and Chips, Jo and Simon

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✉️ Drop us an email: hello@swissandchips.com

📞 Send us a voice message to play in the show +41 76 282 67 66

New here? Join the Swiss and Chips community.

Switzerland, a country known for its linguistic diversity, is home to the unique dialect of Swiss German. It has many variations around the country, with words, sounds and phrases changing by city or valley. Here, we dive into a very specific topic of Swiss German - the use of nicknames.

In this episode of ‘Decoding Swiss German Nicknames’, we aim to unravel the meanings, origins, and usage of nicknames. Let’s decode together!

• User feedback
• Swiss dialects / Swiss nicknames

The Instagram video.

• Grübschi: Apple or pear core
• Mürggel: The end bit of a loaf of bread
• Rittigampfi: A swing
• Fööf: Five
• Küdder: Rubbish or bin
• Gluggsi: Hiccup
• Gagel: Poo

• Join the Swiss and Chips community! 
• Join the Swiss and Chips chat
• Send us an audio message to +41 76 282 67 66

Discovering animal sounds in Swiss German: A fun exploration at the Dählhölzli Petting Zoo

Come with us on a stroll through the famous Dählhölzli petting zoo in Bern where we talk about the different animal noises in English and Swiss German.

A special welcome and thanks to all our super early subscribers: Samir, Julian, Nuclei, Alicia, Nicholas, Joee and many more - we really appreciate the early support!

And Krissy! She was the first to comment in the subscriber chat about what advice she’d give anyone planning to move to Switzerland.

• Why ducks say "quack-quack" in English but "ga-ga" in Japanese. By Quick and dirty tipps

• Bee, bird, cockerel, owl, horse, frog, sheep, cuckoo, dog

• John’s explanation of what a Bünzli is

• Liiri, Liiri-Bänz, Gritti-Bänz

Do you have a suggestion? Send your voice message to +41 76 282 67 66 and we’ll discuss it in the show or via email to hello@swissandchips.com.

• Be sure to subscribe to us on Substack
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The experience of going to see a film in Switzerland has some quirks. The first question you’re probably going to ask yourself when trying to catch a new release is what language it’s going to be shown in and secondly, how much the pleasure is going to set you back. 

In this episode, we talk about which kind of cinema typically shows films in which languages, how dubbing or subtitles come into play, the financial consequences of a cinema trip in Switzerland and where to find out what’s on.

We also explain why we moved the Swiss and Chips community to Substack, a place where we want to hear from you and get to know you better.

All our content and community chat on Substack is free.

On Substack, you can directly subscribe to the episodes and additional content via email, be part of the subscriber chat, give direct feedback on the episode articles and have your say in polls.

1. We read all comments, emails and chat replies carefully, as we really want to hear from you. Often these conversations make our day and are why we’re doing what we’re doing.

2. Other community members can join the discussion, give advice or get help.

3. All of this will directly influence the show and upcoming topics.

At this point, many thanks to our first new subscribers on Substack 🥳 and a special welcome to Amritam, Jane and Krissy 👋

• Why we moved from Facebook to Substack

• An app to look up films playing at the cinema: Cineman

Swiss words we explain in this episode: “Schärmä”, not to be confused with “Schirm” (umbrella) or being “andercover”. And as a bonus, a more cinema-related word: “Küder”.

We’d love to answer your question in our show. Please leave us an audio message directly on our website or send a voice message to 0041 76 282 67 66.

After 13 years of living in Switzerland, Jo is finally allowed to have her say in her new home country and participate in the democratic process. The Swiss elections are coming up and after becoming Swiss, this might be the second most exciting day for a new citizen. The papers have arrived (a long time ago) and are ready to be explored. Let's do the unboxing together and talk about the specialities of the Swiss elections.

• What's it like to get the the election material for the first time?
• What's inside the envelope?
• How do you vote?
• Smartvote

Thank you for listening to the Swiss and Chips Podcast!

• We’d love to answer your question in our show. Please leave us an audio question directly on our website.
• Get in touch via email and we'll answer your question directly in the show (if possible).
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We’d love to answer your question in our show. Please leave us an audio message directly on our website or send a voice message to 0041 76 282 67 66.

The Swiss can't get enough of it: Rivella is the Alpine nation's traditional soft drink of choice. But there's an unusual ingredient hiding beneath the bubbles of this thirst-quenching liquid. Any idea what it is?

In this episode, we'll introduce you to the delights of Switzerland's weird and wonderful fizzy refreshment, and Simon takes a blind Rivella taste test to find out how Swiss he is after all.

• Facts and figures
• Different colours of Rivella bottles and their meaning
• The drink experiment!

How to properly order a Rivella in Switzerland.

Thank you for listening to the Swiss and Chips podcast!

• We’d love to answer your question in our show. Please leave us an audio message directly on our website or send a voice message to 0041 76 282 67 66.
• Connect with us and become part of the community
• Don't miss the latest episode of Swiss and Chips. Subscribe via iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, email or RSS!
• Jo Fahy on Mastodon, Simon Zryd on Mastodon

We’d love to answer your question in our show. Please leave us an audio message directly on our website or send a voice message to 0041 76 282 67 66.

If you're looking for Christmas magic, put Colmar, France on your list of must-see places. A beautiful city at any time of year, it is decorated and lit up to perfection every Christmas.

The city's cobbled streets are flanked by Medieval or Renaissance-period buildings and small canals run alongside the main thoroughfares. There are six different markets to see, each with a different focus such as artisan crafts, food or even an area aimed at children. On top of all that, the city's park has an ice rink and even a merry-go-round that has been adapted into a highly festive rotating drinkery.

Although Switzerland has an abundance of lovely Christmas markets, a trip to Colmar is something special: we'll tell you why in this latest episode!  

• We talk about user feedback. Send yours here.
• Colmar and its Christmas markets

The word in this episode was "biräweich".

It's time for Simon to learn more about the English language. Send a word or expression in English as a voice message to 0041 76 282 67 66 and explain why it's important to know. Simon will try to figure out what it is and how to say it in Swiss German in the next episode. If you send us your address, you'll get a postcard as a thank you from us :)

• Subscribe on iTunes
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• Other ways to subscribe

Thank you for listening to the Swiss and Chips Podcast!

• We’d love to answer your question in our show. Please leave us an audio message directly on our website or send a voice message to 0041 76 282 67 66.
• Connect with us and become part of this community.