I didn’t mean to skip your post, Big Bad Voodoo Lou. And I have no problem with going out and doing things with Japanese people–just the only Japanese person I know was erased off the board at the beginning of the thread, and I trust that appraisal well enough. But saying to get out and go places isn’t terribly meaningful by itself. I’m fine with that up to the point that we’re talking about something I would enjoy doing; I’m not going to start taking aerobics so I can pick up chicks. But I am willing to go do things that seem like something I would enjoy. And if that means that the limit to how close I become with someone is to make the odd grunting noise at the sixty year old British fart when it’s his turn–that’s still more time I’ll have spent enjoying myself with another human than over the grand majority of my current tenure here.
But at the moment the only two things that have come to mind for getting out to do (besides going to the movies and the bookstore) is to play pool–which hasn’t worked out–and to try and look up other expats. They’re people too, and probably easier to finagle into going out for pool (without going as a group.) I’ve considered things like learning swordfighting 柔剣 but, at the moment, frankly I want to have something to do that doesn’t require me to be diligent or have to work.
And to Grossbottom, I respect your intentions but you are making several misconceptions.
Point one, I do agree that you’re not going to get the girl if you don’t turn on the charm–but simply I’m not going to do it just to get laid. If I meet someone interesting then certainly, but that’s a lot different from what I was talking about. And anyways, if my perfect irony isn’t rubbing her in all the right ways, then obviously my real charm has been lost. 
But the overall point of the OP and the thread really has very little to do with picking up chicks; benignly or otherwise. Which goes to point two.
Yes, chess is not the great babe magnet (or at least that fact has been hidden well.) But that really is fairly irrelevant. No, a chess-playing goddess of youthful passion, vigor, and the legs to snap your spine atwixt would not be frowned upon! But…if the man asks for chess he might mean that he is satisfied just to be able to play a game of chess. Definitely a preference between the two…but hey I’m easy.
Point three would go towards gamers who muuuust grind another 8000 points for uber loot before bed. I do it as a way to shoot the shit with my palls. When I’m ready to go to bed, I sleep, when I have work to do I do my work, and when I want to shoot the shit at 3am because I’m nocturnal, I go and shoot the shit. My only problem is that I refuse to let my life degrade like my fellow programmers to such that all they do at home is sleep and the laundry. Yes this means I get less sleep, but at least I can say I have a life beyond work; even if only a virtual one. And it’s better than staying up for Japanese late night TV shudders which is about the only other option for afterwork entertainment on weekdays.
Fourth point. Being tempted to write, call, etc. would require temptation. I wrote the OP based on simple math which was, I need a human to shoot the shit with because this sucks–but the only human I know within 3000 miles is the Evil One. So, eh, post it on the Dope, check my dice. Beyond that I am perfectly fine to leave my old emails to sit on my backup drive as going through to find them would be a lovely experience of :eek: 
:smack: … :eek: 
:smack: … :dubious: :rolleyes: :smack: … :smack: … :smack: It’ll fail to get transferred to a new computer eventually. I can wait.
but being pretty asocial myself and having lived abroad several times, I’ve figured out the point when I need to kick my ass out of the house Or Else. Except for Philly (where apparently you need to fill paperwork and compromise to a fixed weekly period even to go to Mass), it’s worked everywhere.