How can I make friends as an exchange student?

I'm leaving in August on a year-long student exchange program. I'll be staying with a host family in Germany and attending a nearby high school. My German certainly isn't the best, and I'm wondering how I'm ever going to be able to make friends.



I'll be living in a small community, much like I do right now, and I know that schools here tend to be rather cliquey and it's sometimes hard for new students to make friends, barring any language or culture barrier.



How would you go about making friends as an exchange student?How can I make friends as an exchange student?I'm going to Reichshoffen in France in September and am faced with that same problem. I've been told that in general, smile a lot, make yourself approachable, and always appear pleased to be there, because obviously you can't speak to them well, so act positively. Yeah that's all that ive been told.