Japanese student club

Even though I am working full time in Hawaii, I still want to meet people and have fun. However, I have found it hard to make new friends. I feel like there have not been many opportunities. Maybe what I should say is, I don't feel comfortable just talking to people I bump into on the streets of Waikiki. However, even the few people I have talked to are from somewhere else and are just visiting Hawaii.
One way I tried to get around this was by going to a local university and joining student clubs. There was a Japanese student club and I joined. Fortunately, despite the age difference I could still chat with the people there, they have been very welcoming.
Around New Years the Japanese student club had an End of the Year Party at a local Japanese restaurant. It had been a long time since I had been to such a party or ate at an authentic Japanese restaurant. The food was delicious, the atmosphere was distinctly Japanese, the chatter and environment made me think I had returned to Japan again.
My language skills are still good enough that I could still tell jokes and have fun in Japanese. People laughed, and not just to be polite. The food was Japanese "Nabe". The restaurant has paper bowls that are put over a fire, yet don't burn. Water is boiled in the bowls and they put lots of vegtables and meats into them to create a kind of stew. Special sauces and juices make the Nabe super tasty.
You use your chopsticks to take food out of the bowl, dip it into some sesame sauce mixed with egg and onions, and eat!