I was thrilled as I landed in Tokyo airport; I was in Japan and I had the entire summer ahead of me to explore it! And since that moment of stepping into Narita, that first encounter with the modern yet strangely fascinating culture, my awe for the Land of The Rising Sun just kept growing, and it hasn't stopped till this day.

I had a lot of firsts during my stay in Japan, my first visit to Japan(!), my first encounter with the awe-inspiring Shinkansen, my first view of the amazing Fuji-san, my first lesson of Japanese...the list goes on and on! And if my first impression of Japanese culture has changed me as a person, then my experiences at the NIG have completely restructured my very being in terms of scientific outlook and motivation!

My host lab, the Cell Architecture Lab of Prof. Kimura, works on questions that seek to understand the nature the interplay of the cytoskeletal elements during the cell cycle, and they experimentally validate the models they propose using the worm C. elegans. The project I was assigned to had exactly the components I wanted to experience, an experimental part followed by a theoretical project. And at the beginning of my internship, I had no idea how much I would learn from them.

As I progressed into my project, a clear idea began to form: This was exactly the kind of work I enjoyed doing! I had an amazing opportunity to be a part of the international C. elegans conference, and the entire trip affected me deeply. I had an amazing time interacting with the leading scientists in C.elegans biology, and listening to the talks as well as talking to people completely reinforced my belief of the usefulness of the nematode as a model organism. Along with the conference, the chance to visit the historical cities of Nara and Kyoto, with their beautiful shrines and temples, was only an additional incentive!

My visit has been enriching to say the least. Beginning with the gracious Japanese hospitality, the revelation that it is easy to remain vegetarian in Japan, the NIG Retreat (a weekend of science!), my visits to various spots around Mishima, our memorable trip into the Izu penisula, the Fuji expedition, the zazen experience, the introduction to Murakami as well as Miyazaki... all this vis-a-vis my daily lab schedules, lab visits, the moments of satisfaction after a successful piece of code, and life-lessons learnt from the microinjection experiments.... NIGINTERN caters to the young scientists' wildest dreams and aspirations, ensuring a life-changing induction into the fascinating world of biology today.

So my thanks go out to everyone, from the life-sustaining Oba-chan of the cafeteria who took wonderful care of the poor vegetarian boy, to the whole of the CAL lab, to all the guest house residents who made my stay memorable, and to the whole of NIG for having given me this electrifying experience!