Thanks for the thoughts! I spoke to another non-Italian postdoc here (actually the only one I know) and he also feels quite isolated here but has collaborators and family in London and there are many flights there... I had some minor health problems this year which is probably another reason why...
Thanks to each of you for your replies - it's very useful to hear your thoughts and experiences.
@Hercuflea:
If/when I decide to leave academia I guess employable skills will become my top priority - particularly computer programming. My contract lasts until May so I have some time... However I...
I have a phd in pure maths from a highly ranked university in the UK. During the PhD I was quite lucky and had a good supervisor so managed to get several decent publications. I'm now half way through my first (2 year) postdoc abroad in a very good, but much smaller, university in a non English...