2 down, 1 to go

Woohoo! I've just finished my IELTS paper! Thank God I survived. Ironically, it's the part which I prepared the least that I think I did the best.

Speaking section was quite ok, though I wondered why the examiner looked so anxious to go on to the next question as soon as I complete my sentences. It was like that for the first part.

I thought perhaps I was talking too much, my verbosity exceeding the time limit. So I spoke less the next round. This time, she looked expectantly at me, as if waiting for me to talk some more. But my brains were beginning to tune themselves to stop spewing out words after a certain time.

In the end I think I talked too much for the section which required simple responses and stinged on my words on that which called for more elaborate answers. :p

The was Friday noon. I woke up to the sounds of rain pitter-pattering on the roof the morning after. Having slept at 2:30 trying to do IELTS sample papers, waking up at 7 was no fun at all. All I wanted was to cuddle up in my blanket and wished my paper was another day.

Hanging around outside the hall stirred up pre-exam butterflies in the stomach. The waiting, the last minute memorising and the anxious looks. It reminded me of uni days when a confident front was put up as a million charts and notes run through the mind. It was all too familiar.

The listening test was as I had expected. Fairly easy throughout, but tricky at the end. I must've missed some key points - damn British accent of theirs! Ditto for the reading section, minus the accent.

Now, I must say that I have not been practicing on the writing part because of the lack of time. Even with trying to jot down points to make up a story, I didn't think I did as good as I should have. After all, it's been years since I last sat down and wrote a summary to describe 3 pie charts! What more an argumentative essay at that.

Without the flexibility and ease of typing on a computer, needless to say, I was tired out halfway writing my essays. I don't think I've ever written on paper this much since I graduated from uni. Thank goodness it was the last section. I just wanted to get it over and done with. And funnily, my pieces came out quite well, despite my inadequacies.

My plans to reward myself with a shopping treat had to be cancelled. I was more than zombified at the end of it. My bed had never looked so tempting, my brains never been so taxed...