It seems impossible to me to summarize all of my interesting experiences of my wonderful ten-week stay in NIG in a short essay. In the first place I would like to thank a lot for this nice opportunity I was given. I am very grateful for that I could stay and work in NIG as an intern student for 10 awesome weeks which appeared to be too short time to experience Japan in all its glory. It was just a tasting but I gradually fell in love with Japan and all the nice features of life in here. What I found the most catchy? The kindness of Japanese people and the carpe diem life style although they do work very very hard. Therefore thank you NIGINTERN committee and General Affairs/Education Team and others.

I started my work in Miyagishima sensei´s laboratory full of expectations. Hearty welcome of his and other lab members was very friendly and warm. And indeed, they were very helpful and always ready to advise me with anything. I could not wish any better. I felt like a real part of the research team, which is focused on endosymbiosis, regulation of cell cycle and organelle division and on the development of suitable microalgal source for the biofuels production. All of the various topics attempting to resolve the big questions of the life was extremely interesting for me, but I had to choose one to run my own project in here and it was the introduction of a very extensively studied model red microalga Cyanidioschyzon merolae to the field of biofuels production as it seemed very inspiring for my future work.

The thing I was impressed a lot is the beauty of nature in Japan, such as very clear waters of Gembe-gawa River ful of crawfish, crabs and other fish. Flocks of dragonflies are flying among beautiful exotic flowers and if you are lucky (like me) you can see there a kingfisher, the symbol of Mishima. I have seen many animals and plants I cannot meet in my country in the wild. A very interesting although not pleasant was my first meeting with leeches.

I enjoyed my stay in Mishima very much. I was lucky to attend the Mishima Taicha festival in August. Then I wanted to see more places around Japan, I went to Hakone, lake Ashinoko and Owakudani where I revealed the Japanese mystery of long life. Owakudani smelled like rotten eggs (by hydrogen sulfide) on the miles around so I could climb up with my eyes closed only following the smell. Even the volcanic gases are toxic, Hakone hotspirngs are very healthy and it is said that when you eat an egg boiled in the hot spring water, in which it turns black, it will prolonge your life for seven years. Then I travelled to Kyoto. I was totally impressed by the history of ancient cities of Nara and Horyuji – with the oldest and largest wooden temples around the world. I just could not believe my eyes. I climbed Mt Hiei and Mt Kurama nearby Kyoto to feel more deeply how the religious life in Japan went on in the old times. However, it was changed to even more intense experience of the wet stroke of typhoon against which I struggled during all my hiking trip. So I saw the former capital cities to be ready to descover the modern high tech Tokyo. I also went to the outstandingly beautiful cities of Kamakura and Nikko. Then I was so lucky that I could climb Mt Fuji with foreign students and to go on a cruise around Izu peninsula with them on the boat of their nice Japanese landlord.

I cannot forget to mention tasting of Japanese food as it is an indispensable element of Japanese culture with many special features developed during the centuries. I was introduced to it by Miyagishima san and other lab members, who taught me to cook some of them, and even by my nice and kind Japanese teacher Miyauchi sensei teaching me not only Japanese but also how to make makizushi. I loved to make sashimi from fish I caught by myself while fishing with my friends.

What I did not emphasize enough until now is my gratefulness for meeting many nice people in Japan. They are the main reason why I could enjoy my stay there so much.