Short ver.
Is it possible to make good friends when you have no/little interest in others?
Or, is there a way to get interested in others and eventually improve social life?
Long ver.
When I got my current job, I moved to a different city. Since then, I've been having a difficult time of making new friends.
I'm a foreigner living in Australia.
Although I speak English reasonably well (C1 level), I often find it difficult to maintain small talks and enjoy conversations.
The main reason is probably because I don't know much about their culture, even though I've been here for a long time.
More importantly, the reason why I don't know much about their culture is probably because I'm not really interested in their culture and don't genuinely enjoy it (such as watching Cricket, Aussie football or TV dramas made here).
In the famous book How to win friends and influence people, I think Dale Carnegie said something like "if you want other people to be interested in you, you should be interested in them first." I don't want to sound mean, but I can't be genuinely interested in others in my current social situations.
When I was going to university, I didn't have this sort of issue, since there were many people whom I shared my interest with.
Likewise, when I was in my country, making new friends was easier.
On one hand, I can focus on my software development project and self-improvement activity (such as weight lifting). Maybe I can appreciate this distraction-free environment.
On the other hand, I feel strongly isolated (or even depressed) every now and then.
Should I simply move to a different place, or is there anything else I can do to improve my social life?
Is it possible to make good friends when you have no/little interest in others?
Or, is there a way to get interested in others and eventually improve social life?
Long ver.
When I got my current job, I moved to a different city. Since then, I've been having a difficult time of making new friends.
I'm a foreigner living in Australia.
Although I speak English reasonably well (C1 level), I often find it difficult to maintain small talks and enjoy conversations.
The main reason is probably because I don't know much about their culture, even though I've been here for a long time.
More importantly, the reason why I don't know much about their culture is probably because I'm not really interested in their culture and don't genuinely enjoy it (such as watching Cricket, Aussie football or TV dramas made here).
In the famous book How to win friends and influence people, I think Dale Carnegie said something like "if you want other people to be interested in you, you should be interested in them first." I don't want to sound mean, but I can't be genuinely interested in others in my current social situations.
When I was going to university, I didn't have this sort of issue, since there were many people whom I shared my interest with.
Likewise, when I was in my country, making new friends was easier.
On one hand, I can focus on my software development project and self-improvement activity (such as weight lifting). Maybe I can appreciate this distraction-free environment.
On the other hand, I feel strongly isolated (or even depressed) every now and then.
Should I simply move to a different place, or is there anything else I can do to improve my social life?