As an Italian living abroad, I can relate to your experiences (I'm not US-based though). I still have friends from elementary school, which I talk to regularly

As an Italian living abroad, I can relate to your experiences (I'm not US-based though). I still have friends from elementary school, which I talk to regularly. I live in the German part of Switzerland, which is not exactly the friendliest part of Europe. I got here with my family, and I couldn't speak the language and didn't know a soul. So, as I'm into photography, I started a meetup group in Zurich and started organizing events. Now the group has 1000 people in it - mostly expats - and I have more friends than I need to (joking, but sometime I have to deflect invitations to dinners etc. to be with family).