All About Me

Several years ago I took the Myers-Briggs Test. For those of you who are unfamiliar with that, it is basically a personality test. It was kind of scary how accurately it described me. Well, I started thinking about that a little today, and wanted to share some information about that with you.
I am an INFJ. If you aren't sure what that means, that's ok.
If you are interested in understanding me and my personality just a little more, read on. This is the information that I have about it. I know its long, but I've highlighted (with italics) some important points and you obviously don't have to read the whole thing. If you want, I would suggest reading the brief overview:

INFJ - The Protector (The Counselor)
Brief Overview

INFJs are intuitive, caring, quiet and peace-loving: deep and complex people who may seem equally at home dealing with the personal and analytical spheres of life. The interior world of vision and ideas is this type's most comfortable domain, but some degree of human connection is essential for the INFJ's happiness; a potential conflict for this type. Articulate, empathetic and idealistic, INFJs often say they just know things, they know them directly, and they may not be able to tell you how or why! INFJs seem to be able to feel others' feelings vicariously and sense the good and evil in situations: an almost psychic ability which may be an asset in many "people professions." Spiritual, sensitive and committed, INFJs enjoy being of service to others. Once this type's goals are set and the mind is made up, no argument based solely on reason and practicality is likely to divert the passionate INFJ from a mission or chosen project. Whether this characteristic manifests itself as admirable tenacity or bull-headed stubbornness may determine the individual INFJ's potential for life success.

INFJs as Friends

Although the INFJ is likely to put friends behind their God and their families in terms of importance, they do value their friendships. As idealists who have strong value systems, INFJs seek authenticity and depth in their close relationships, and especially value people who can see and appreciate the INFJ for who they are and what they stand for.

The INFJ is likely to spend a lot of time socializing with family members. If they are religious, they probably are social with members of their religious community. After that, the INFJ may have friends represented from any of the personality types. They are usually extremely intuitive individuals, who will have no patience for anyone they feel is dishonest or corrupt. They'll have no interest in being around these kinds of people.

All kinds of people are drawn towards the INFJ. They are usually quite popular, although they may be unaware of it themselves, because they don't place a lot of importance on it.

The INFJ is valued by their close friends for their warmth and consideration, their new and interesting ways of looking at things, and for their ability to inspire and motivate others to be the best that they can be, genuine as they are.

In general, the INFJ is a deeply warm and caring person who is highly invested in the health of their close relationships, and puts forth a lot of effort to make them positive. They are valued by those close to them for these special qualities. They seek long-term, lifelong relationships, although they don't always find them.

A Little More

INFJs place great importance on havings things orderly and systematic in their outer world. They put a lot of energy into identifying the best system for getting things done, and constantly define and re-define the priorities in their lives. On the other hand, INFJs operate within themselves on an intuitive basis which is entirely spontaneous. They know things intuitively, without being able to pinpoint why, and without detailed knowledge of the subject at hand. They are usually right, and they usually know it. Consequently, INFJs put a tremendous amount of faith into their instincts and intuitions.

INFJs have uncanny insight into people and situations. They get "feelings" about things and intuitively understand them. As an extreme example, some INFJs report experiences of a psychic nature, such as getting strong feelings about there being a problem with a loved one, and discovering later that they were in a car accident. This is the sort of thing that other types may scorn and scoff at, and the INFJ themself does not really understand their intuition at a level which can be verbalized. Consequently, most INFJs are protective of their inner selves, sharing only what they choose to share when they choose to share it. They are deep, complex individuals, who are quite private and typically difficult to understand. INFJs hold back part of themselves, and can be secretive.

But the INFJ is as genuinely warm as they are complex. INFJs hold a special place in the heart of people who they are close to, who are able to see their special gifts and depth of caring. INFJs are concerned for people's feelings, and try to be gentle to avoid hurting anyone. They are very sensitive to conflict, and cannot tolerate it very well. They may tend to internalize conflict into their bodies, and experience health problems when under a lot of stress.

Because the INFJ has such strong intuitive capabilities, they trust their own instincts above all else. INFJ is a perfectionist who doubts that they are living up to their full potential. INFJs are rarely at complete peace with themselves - there's always something else they should be doing to improve themselves and the world around them. They believe in constant growth, and don't often take time to revel in their accomplishments. They have strong value systems, and need to live their lives in accordance with what they feel is right.

In deference to the Feeling aspect of their personalities, INFJs are in some ways gentle and easy going. Conversely, they have very high expectations of themselves, and frequently of their families. They don't believe in compromising their ideals.

The INFJ individual is gifted in ways that other types are not. Life is not necessarily easy for the INFJ, but they are capable of great depth of feeling and personal achievement.

Well if you made it all the way to the end, you should be able to understand me just a little better.

Russian, and more Russian

Last night I went to see a Russian movie at BYU's International Cinema with some friends. The movie is Burnt by the Sun. I didn't really know what to expect because I didn't know what the movie was about, but it ended up being really interesting. It is about the beginning of the Great Purge during Stalin's reign of terror. At the beginning, Stalin had all of his closest and best people executed. I guess he was paranoid of the power/influence that they had, paranoid that they were like him and would take power if given the chance. The movie shows one such close friend of Stalin: Colonel Kotov, who lives with his family on a dacha and is revered by the people in the community. An old friend of his wife's family shows up, disturbs the peace, and *SPOILER* turns out to be a member of the secret police, come to arrest Kotov and invent false charges on which he can be tried. Until the very end, Kotov thinks he is untouchable, but weeps when he finally realizes where the order must have come from. It was interesting because I've been reading Soviet literature this semester in my Russian Lit class. That made it all the more understandable for me compared to some of the people I was with. *SPOILER* (end of spoiler).
Anyway, that movie gave me some things to think about, even the people who truly supported communism were not safe during the reign of communism. You can see why everyone would be scared when nothing really could save you, especially not proximity to the leader. You can also see why some people would stop striving for greatness since that made you stick out, and were therefore a target.
Then today I had a Russian language test over the phone for a job that I applied for. I don't think it went very well. . . I guess I will find out soon enough.

Three Cups of Tea

I just finished reading a book called Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. The story told between the cover is an incredible story of one man's life work to promote peace by educating children. It is a testimony that one person really can make a difference. Often people think, what can I do? I'm just one man or one woman. How can I make a difference? But here we see one man who didn't waste time asking those questions. Instead, he saw a need, and was determined to provide for it.
Greg Mortenson first became acquainted with Pakiston in 1993 when he attempted and failed to climb K2, a large mountain in the area. He almost died in the process, but was nursed to health in a rural Balti village. At that time, he saw how desperate the children were for an education, but their village could not afford to pay a teacher. Instead, they got together with another village to share a teacher who would teach three days in each village. Even without a teacher there, the children would get together to study, without a building to study in.
That began a long journey that started with 580 letters painstakingly typed (300 on a typewriter until he learned how to use a computer), in hope of acquiring the funds to build a single school. Unfortunately, it didn't yield many results. In fact, besides a little over $600 that was raised by Elementary school children and a single check for $100, success did not come until after the American Himalayan Foundation published an article in their newsletter about Mortenson's efforts. That resulted in a call from Jean Hoerni who became Mortenson's principle supporter. He provided the funds to build that single school, and kept supporting him, eventually establishing the Central Asia Institute (see www.ikat.org) with Mortenson as the director. Mortenson went on to build dozens of schools in other rural areas of Pakistan and eventually in Afghanistan as well, and he continues his endeavors. The CAI is particularly dedicated to bringing education to girls.
I would like to share one particular passage that I find very touching:
--Haji Ali spoke. "If you want to thrive in Balistan, you must respect our ways," Haji Ali said, blowing on his bowl. "The first time you share tea with a Balti, you are a stranger. The second time you take tea, you are an honored guest. The third time you share a cup of teach, you become family, and for our family, we are prepared to do anything, even die," he said laying his hand warmly on Mortenson's own. "Doctor Greg, you must take time to share three cups of tea. We may be uneducated. But we are not stupid. We have lived and survived here for a long time."
"That day, Haji Ali taught me the most important lesson I've ever learned in my life," Mortenson says. "We Americans think you have to accomplish everything quickly. We're the country of thirty-minute power lunches and two-minute football drills. Our leaders thought their 'shock and awe' campaign could end the war in Iraq before it even started. Haji Ali taught me to share three cups of tea, to slow down and make building relationships as important as building projects. He taught me that I had more to learn from the people I work with than I could ever hope to teach them."-- (pg. 150)
I really think that this is the key to peace in the world. We have to build bridges of trust. Terrorism's largest tools are propaganda and uneducation, or lack of a good education. Uneducated people do no feel that they have any options, educated ones know that they do. In that area of the world, sometimes the only education opportunity is at an extremist madrassa. With propaganda being taught to children, it is no wonder that they grow up to be terrorists. But if another opportunity is presented, they have a chance to escape that kind of education.
But, in my personal opinion, education is not enough. It is a start, and a necessary one, but education alone will not win the war on terrorism. This war is, or really should be, a war on propaganda. I've been doing a lot of reading about counterterrorism this semester since that has been the focus of my Russian senior paper. In reading about counterterrorism, I've also been reading about terrorism. One paper that I read put things into perspective (Rethinking Terrorsm and Counterterrism by Bruce Hoffman), "the weapons of modern terrorism critically are not only the guns and bombs that they have long been, but the mini-cam, videotape, television, and the Internet." In the same way that the media often portrays only one side of a story (usually the most interesting), terrorist organizations are able to use technology to portray things in a light that justifies their actions. This propaganda is used to recruit followers to their cause. Not only uneducated, backwards people become terrorists. There are highly educated terrorists, too. So why do they become terrorists? Some probably do it for money and power, but there are others who do it because they feel oppressed as a minority group. This is where the bridges of trust come in. We have to reach out to those groups and hear their complaints. We need to understand what is most frustrating for them so we can address those issues. I've talked about this a lot in regards to the Palestine-Israeli conflict. The Palestinians feel they have no other recourse but through violent acts. This is the only way their voice can be heard (or so they think). But I don't think this just characterizes that conflict. It characterizes many of the world's terrorists.
So there you have it. That is my solution to terrorism: education and listening to the complaints of people. Those are the only ways that I can see to effectively combat the propaganda of terrorist organizations.
I would highly recommend reading this book, if you can get your hands on it. Maybe it will inspire you to make a difference in the world.

Squash!

A while ago Sara and I bought some squash. I like squash and it tends to be filling, but I didn't really know what we could do with a squash besides what I usually do (cook with butter and brown sugar, which is really good, but I wanted to try something new) so I went hunting for squash recipes. (Right - Scooping the squash out of its shell. I used butternut squash) I found one that I modified slightly to give us our dinner tonight. It is a squash casserole that I like to call, Squash Pie. Ok, I didn't really name it, after all, this was an experiment. The original recipe that I found called for summer squash (which we didn't have) and other things that we didn't have (which is why I had to modify the recipe). (Left - Sara with the finished squash pie. It ended up being pretty good. I think we could even do it with pumpkin) It has a layer of seasoned hamburger, a layer of seasoned/mashed squash, followed by an egg/cottage cheese layer that kind of makes a crust.

An Eventful Evening

Unfortunately I don't have any pictures to go along with this post, but I had a very eventful evening. First I started a group on facebook for the support of old movies. I had the intention of meeting once a month, but only two people who joined the group actually told me when they would be able to meet, so I chose a day. Well, that bombed. Only one person was going to be able to make it, so I postponed it until tonight. I forgot about the BYU Russian Club's planned activity. Luckily, my event was schedule for 8:30, so I was able to go to the beginning of the Russian Club activity. I was able to eat some good Russian food and we watched some short films before I had to leave.
Even with the change in time, only two people said they would for sure be able to come, and two others said that they might be able to. I have to say one thing, this has really discouraged me from organizing events. Why put in all that effort if no one is going to come? Still, I had a lot of fun. We watched Not Quite Human (an old disney movie that isn't available on dvd). I had three attendees (besides Sara) and a couple of them stayed a little later and we talked. It was very enjoyable. It almost made it worth it to go through all the pains of planning. But, even if I decide to do that again, we probably only have one more time before I graduate and leave! Oh well, it was still a good evening.