Mister H.
You have now spoilt it for me. Just when I was begining to think you were a bigot, you turn out to me a nice guy after all.
I'm glad you took the time to find out, rather than go with the first impression :-)
I think thats part of the problem. I'm white, and English speaking, so you would think I've got a head start on Poles. I've been here four years, and although I have many friends of many nationalities, I can honestly say I've only got three British friends. I think part of it is that you do make most of your friends when you are younger (school, early twenties) so perhaps they're not interested in making new friends, but on the other hand, it does make it difficult to get to know any British people.
Try not to take it too personally, I have a good friend who is originally from South Africa who has been here nearly 10 years and I'm one of his few British friends. He is always saying how hard it is to get to know British people.
For a start, we all live our lives at what seems like a million miles an hour that there is hardly any time for the friends we already have, let alone new ones ! The pace of life is too fast.
Also, compared to what you're probably used to in New Zealand, Liza, we all seem to live on top of one another here to the extent that many of us don't have the space to invite loads of people round. I'd be having people over for dinner all the time if I had the room.
All this combined with the traditional British reserve can make it hard for people new in town to get to know others.