How will I make friends overseas?

I'm trying not to drink when I move overseas in 3 weeks because I don't want to exacerbate my mental health issues. Drinking is a huge social buffer for me. I don't like big groups of people and write off most people as boring too quickly. Drinking makes this more bearable. Also, I'm pretty introverted, so making small talk with strangers for hours literally exhausts me and slightly depresses me.

If I don't go out with the new recruits, how will I possibly make friends? How do I do this if I hate small talk?

I'm trying to meet some people online before I go, but I have not been too successful.

I fear that I may get very lonely

Also, I am begining to have huge trust issues. I have some good friends here, but I have had many that have just fizzled out. So many friends have wanted me around, and then just haven't. I think that this is because they were sexually motivated and realized that it wasn't going in their favor or they get GFs. I am unable to bond with most women because I am nothing like most women. I've had too many romances recently in which I was just one day nothing to these guys after everything had been so intense. To top things off, I just found out that my BFF has been using heroin behind my back for two years. I feel like people are more often than not lying to me or pretending to care about me.

I hope that I'm wrong, but I fear that this habit of isolation and unstable interpersonal relationships will continue overseas

Maybe you could take some courses for interest - art, music, theatre, languages. Maybe get involved with volunteering somewhere.

I could try volunteering, but my visa doesn't allow me to enroll in school.

Are there other places to get involved in activities/courses (other than school)? Clubs? The Y? Yoga? Tai chi? Painting? Pottery? There must be more?

I really won't know until I get there. I do belong to a website for expats that invites me to social events there. Most are bowling. I can't bowl because of my carpal tunnel, but I still plan on going :P

It may be tricky at first though because I will be working 40 hours and will have to spend weeks getting to know where I can get the services and products I'll need.

Fortunately, I'll have roommates. I hope they are expats who speak English. I'm not opposed to meeting native people, but I will have less in common with them and it will be harder to communicate with them.

A suggestion (hope that you don't mind) - as I re-read your original post - please don't "write people off as boring" - that is - perhaps re-consider this attitude. Instead - open your mind, don't underestimate others. When I think of the various people who I have met over the years - to realize the successes and pursuits and achievements of these people (they're not boring - but they are the people who I met along the way in my life). Who would you consider to not be boring? Maybe work on your attitude problem? So - you'll have roommates, and hopefully you'll find some common ground with them.

People who aren't boring have interests that go beyond conventional ones and are passionate as adventurous. People who aren't boring have more than small talk to share with strangers. Non boring people don't see things out of the normal as weird and have more to talk about than other people.

I'm working on being more open-minded, but realistically, I can't change my interests. If we have nothing in common, we have nothing in common.