Does anyone else not like the feeling of being alone or not having your friends know when you are gone? Please, if you are going to read this thread, bear through my ramblings. Recently, my best friend and I came from the Sates to Taiwan to improve our Chinese, and we made new friends so far with our stay. However, I have been feeling really sad and out of place with my friends. Lately, it seems like my best friend wants nothing more than to go out with our new friends and have fun, but I do competitive figure skating, and have a competition in Taiwan as well as back in America, so I have to meet with my coach and have lessons. Then these couple of days, my best friend wanted to go to activities that overlapped with my skating time, and she really wants to go, and there is no other time. For example today, we went to the mall and planned to watch a movie at 11:45am, but one of the friends couldn't make that time, so they postponed to to 3:10. However, by the time the movie finished it would be around 5 and that was when I had to skate. I asked her is she wanted to stay here while I go skate and she said yes, with a small happy look in her eyes. I felt guilty for holding her back and said ok, but i am still not quite familiar with Taiwan and don't want to go places by myself, especially since i can't read or write chinese. In the end, i ended up cancelling my lesson that day saying that something important came up, but i had already packed my skates and everything, and couldn't shake off a guilty feeling i had for cancelling the lesson. But then while at the mall today, i was able to separate from the group with out them noticing, as well as show up behind them and having them walk away from me still calling my name looking for me. this happened several times today, and it makes me feel sad and close to depressed. I don't know if it is just me being an attention whore or a clingy friend, but if you are still here, it would be much appreciated if you could give me some advice. Thank you very much.

You're in a different country. Enjoy it. Don't spend your time thinking about you social life. Spend like 2 min thinking about it a day or somefin :)

I feel this way too. Not everyone is attentive and you are in a new place. Your friend wants to explore. AND realize that you can make new friends. Many times the new ones will be better than the old, and although you dont want to leave the old behind you must. Dont worry so much about it right now though.

hey. don't feel that bad.
you are on a new place. maybe that is why you feel so... alone.
it can be hard, i know.
but don't be mad with your friend. she wants to know this new place. in times like that, many people tends to focus on the "now". she is not far frow you, she just want to apreciate this place.
and going unoticed is not that bad as it looks. i can somewhat relate. it's not that they don't care about you. you just don't have much "presence'. you cant make them see you more, if you want. but, it's not because they don't look to you all the time, it doesn't mean that you are not with them. if they were calling your name, they missed you.
oh, and talk with you friend. say that you don't want to hold her down, but don't want to be let behind too. she will understand.
i hope you will be fine

In the end, they did look for you, what else do you want? They obviously care about you!
Also, you are not obliged to attend every date with your friends. Every one of you has their own life, even if you like to share it with one another, you still have to work towards your own goals, and if you trip, you can help each other out. They will be at your back, supporting you if they are real friends. They did look for you, after all.