As an expat, it&#x27;s harder than in a country where you master unspoken social rules. I know this from experience.<p>I believe your best bet is to meet other people lost in translation, and especially expats. Ideally not all from your native country: often, such circles (people from country X trying to make themselves an enjoyable life in country Y) tend to encourage their members to bitch on country Y, and that&#x27;s not the path to happiness.<p>Internet should help you find people. If you have hobbies, it helps having a common ground to build upon.<p>About kids, lovers and family: it&#x27;s quite difficult to share a social life between single people, engaged people and people with kids. If the bond preexists a divergence of lifestyles, it can survive, but each of these lifestyles come with hard-to-reconcile constraints.<p>Finally, if you can pass the IQ test, Mensa is a nice community of too-smart-for-their-own-good people, looking for meaningful and intellectually engaging bonds.