The best way to make friends is to join a club with a common interest. I love dogs and joined a local dog training club - learnt lots of stuff and made some really good friends.

My sister is also dyspraxic and she has always had a busy social life because she found other Trekkies to meet with.

Find your interests and then find a group that has the same interest - local school PTAs or just a coffee morning group... I've never had problems with meeting people just because I'm english.

Then you can also try to meet up with other expats - I've done that too!

Enjoy!