Self Perceptions

I suppose I have had no trouble with the concept of "keeping an open mind" in regards to entering into a completely new culture; however, I hadn't really considered that I will be changing throughout this semester and I have to understand that there are perceptions of myself that I will also be leaving behind.

- Today I took the Myers-Briggs personality test, after many years of thinking I was an ENFP I soon discover I was an INTJ.  While this may sound like pointless information, I found it interesting that for so long I thought I was an extrovert.  I am not an extrovert.  I'm outgoing, yes, but I am not an extrovert.  This simple realization of finding something new out about myself has my brain a little rattled.  I can't help but think about how my perceptions of others must be completely wrong if I can't even understand myself.  

I hope that I will be able to enter into this new phase of my life with the ability to leave all preconceived notions behind.  Whether about myself, the culture, the people (both there and at home), I hope that I will just be able to embrace the things that come my way and not attach a stigma to them or automatically reject them because of something that I associate with it. I know that so much of what I encounter will be unknown to me, and that's exciting! It will be a way for me to broaden my beliefs and values and learn about those of others; yet in a way that allows for growth rather than a muffling of those things that make me feel uncomfortable.