I’m in a low pop realm and I remember our game queues were longs and games were bad BUT I actually managed to do it a lot quicker than I thought.
Keep at it. You meet someone you get along with and the play ok, friend them (I add notes to that so I can remember I know who they are). Play with them and try your best. If you are serious (and the fact you play SL probably means yes) I suggest watching some learning videos as well.
Sorry for the long post. As my argument on facebook the other day shows, I’m a person who likes to try to explain things probably more than I need to (And probably shouldn’t with my level of english skill).