Solidifying...

When we are in our teens, our personalities are formed to a lesser degree and our range of 'acceptable' mates (and friends/people for that matter) is very broad. As we progress through undergrad and live through our twenties, our personality starts getting more well defined, our likes and dislikes start getting more solidified and our range of acceptable mates starts declining. Ostensibly, my hypothesis is that this makes mate finding that much harder as you progress in years. Of course, living in a foreign country compounds the issue! (Assuming you are interested in meeting/mating people of the opposite sex from the same country as yours.) Interestingly enough, my observation has been that some of the most successful relationships either begin in high school or in the late twenties.