Cul-de-Sac in This International City-State?

Today, I found this passage in Graham Greene’s “Ways of Escape,” which says, “A friendship can be among the most important events in a life, and a way of escape, just as much as writing or travel, from the everyday routine, the sense of failure, the fear of the future.”

True enough.

Sadly, I don’t have any person who can give me such a way of escape. I don’t know where to go to find anybody who can be so for me and who sees me as a way of escape. At this point of life, I should have had a few (I don’t need many in any case) persons with whom we can share (mildly) inspiring moments. Conversation don’t have to be so serious always. Simply, it seems that I don’t have anyone around me who shares interests and talks decently. This may be the cul-de-sac for my life in this English-speaking (Ha!) city-state.

And should I curse my okay proficiency in English? Probably I should because it has separated me from my fellow Japanese. Then, after more than 14 years here, I haven’t met any Japanese who willingly dives into a situation that’s overwhelmingly non-Japanese. This may be good news to me because it should mean I can survive as a translator/interpreter for some time.