An ESE just showed up at comp sci this year. I can tell because she's networked extensively out of nowhere and has a big ESE grin. They shouldn't be hard to spot.

Personally I've made a lot of friends just talking to strangers at bus stops. I guess it's low risk because A) they're trapped there and B) they can usually safely assume they'll never see you again. The last rave I went to was great for that too. Some of the group we went with just sat by a fire and shot the breeze with all the MDMA'd-up hippies.
@mercutio mentioned in the chatbox a while ago some amino acid-derivative, which I think was Japanese. One of its effects was to reduce shyness, so that might also help.