Hi everyone,

I really need some help because it feels like I'm going nowhere
fast. I find that I have a lot of trouble making friends. This is
especially problematic because I graduated from university last
spring and subsequently moved 3000 km away, to a foreign country, to
start a new job.

In the time that I've been here, I've met quite a few people, but
I've become friends with only one or two of the people that I've
met. I know it's unrealistic to expect that everyone would become a
friend, but surely I should have made a few more friends by now.

I'm definitely not afraid of joining activities (like swing dancing,
singing in a choir or joining a sports league, for instance) but when
I meet people for the first time, I feel very awkward. I don't know
what to say to the other person, don't know how to act and all that.
We all know that first impressions say a lot about a person, but the
first impression that most people get is that I'm stand-offish or
conceited or just not an interesting person to talk to or hang out
with.

Walking into a room where it seems that everyone knows everyone else
is also a big problem. They're all talking to each other, and then
there's me, all by myself, asking myself questions like 'who can I
talk to?' or 'how do I get someone to notice me?'.

I'm sorry if it sounds like I'm whining here, but I really want to
try to figure something out so I'm not so lonely all the time.