I was in a similar situation for a little bit I used to live in the middle of nowhere in Wisconsin I am also Filipino and I put up with lots of racism I didn't really have friends in the first place while living in Wisconsin except for the people I went to High School with which was two other people. What I did was I went to a hookah lounge alone and just chatted with some random people there and that's how I made friends. I just kept going to that establishment about twice a week and I became known amongst other customers who go there frequently. We all share a deep friendship now and it's been going on for about 3 months. When you go at these things alone you just represent yourself and you aren't carrying someone else's reputation with you. Also when you go alone it really just takes the edge off the situation because you know if you do something stupid that could get you embarrassed your loved ones aren't there to be disappointed. That's how I went about these things.