english – that lemon life

The Results Are Here

Hola everyone.

I can’t believe I’m really telling you guys this. Guess what? The results of my IELTS exam came and I’m not joking if I say that I cried when I first saw them.

But, first things first. As you all probably know, on the 25th of November, I finally took my IELTS exam. It’s the test that determines your language level in English, which you have to take in order to be able to apply for a university in the UK. And as this is my plan and dream, the exam was a must for me. Generally you need to achieve an overall level of 6.5 or 6 with at least 6 in every single band – listening, reading, writing and speaking. And as I seriously had no idea how strict they would grade the exam, I really did try my best and prepare and study for it. Also, I have to thank IELTS and the British Council for providing such an awesome online learning platform, it really helped me with preparing for the test and I’d recommend it over and over again.

But now the most important part. For me, personally, the exam wasn’t exactly that hard. But also surely because I really did prepare for it. I had the speaking part one day before the written exam and I actually really enjoyed it. It was cool to chat for a few minutes, but of course I was nervous too.

I’d say that the writing part was the hardest one for me. Mainly because I’m just not used to writing in such a business-like style, interpreting graphs and so on. But apart from that it was pretty cool. I mean, I think I never took an exam that was planned to such a detail. I mean, there weren’t even bottles of juice allowed, because there could maybe be something in the bottle. How crazy is that?

But, enough of that. Without further ado, here are my results:

Overall: 8.0

Writing: 7.5

Reading: 9.0

Listening: 8.0

Speaking: 8.0

Guys, I seriously can’t believe it. I can’t even describe how happy I am. I mean, this means that I am now able to apply for university. And this feels so honest and real now and on the one side I’m actually so scared, but on the other side I could cry for hours because I’m so happy. This really means the world to me. And I’m really proud of myself, for achieving those results. Seriously. I’m so happy, oh my god.

So yeah guys, there you go. Here are my results. I’m so happy that I get to share them with you. I can’t wait to apply for university. I hope you enjoyed this post guys and I wish you all an amazing week. And, as always, thanks for reading. x

Happy Friday

Hola everyone.

Right now it’s eight pm on this Friday evening and I’m sitting in my apartment in Vienna, thinking about what I should tell you guys first. Fall Out Boy is playing in the background and to be honest, I couldn’t be happier.

There is something quite exciting and also slightly frightening happening tomorrow, which also partly happened today. Let’s get right to the point. I am currently taking my IELTS exam. The exam that determines your level of English and the one exam that decides whether I’ll be able to go to a university in the UK or not, because in the UK you need to have a special level in order to be even allowed to apply. So yeah, you could say that this exam is pretty important and the results are even more. Wish me luck guys.

I have to say, I can’t really tell you how I feel about the exam – I’m taking writing, reading and listening tomorrow – because on the one hand I am really nervous because the results are so important for my future, and on the other hand I’m super excited because I just love the English language so freaking much and I know that I am good at it so I actually look forward to showing off my skills a little bit. It’s a little bit complicated.

But today I already had the speaking part of the exam and as far as I can tell, it went pretty pretty good. I had to talk about my family and friends and education and that kind of stuff, so it wasn’t that hard to come up with good answers. But I think it really showed that I was quite nervous, I literally couldn’t stop talking. The examiner had to always stop or slow me down, I was just babbling on and on. I mean, not that that’s something bad. Actually I think it’s far better to talk too much than not enough. But yeah, that was that part. I am really happy that it worked out and I can’t wait for the results, really.

And apart from that another really amazing thing happened today. God, how long has this day been? I feel like I’ve been awake for 40 hours. Anyway. Today, I tried to get tickets to see Fall Out Boy I’ve on their next tour. I actually tried getting some yesterday, but the presale didn’t work at all, so I really placed all my bets and hopes on today. And guess what? I seriously managed to get some pretty awesome seats and I am literally internally screaming in happiness. I mean, how awesome is that? I really got tickets to see Fall Out Boy, one of my favorite bands on this planet. And not only that I’ll be seeing them for my birthday, no, I’ll also be in London, my favorite city ever. Oh my god.

Unfortunately, this amazing band again decided that my country isn’t worth a visit, so, as always, I have to get to them if they don’t come to me. And thankfully I really do have the most amazing, coolest parents on earth, who said that they would make my big wish come true and fly to London and see Fall Out Boy together with on my birthday weekend. I could start crying just by the thought of it. I can’t even begin to tell you how thankful I am. Sometimes I seriously have no idea what I did in order to deserve such awesome parents. And oh god, I love this band so much, I can’t believe this is happening. Holy moly.

So yeah, that was my day. After the exam I went for some christmas shopping and now I’m back home and already thinking about which part to prepare for first – writing, reading or listening? To be honest, I’m really not that nervous about tomorrow. Because I know my abilities. And I just love this language. I know I can do it. And I just have to tell that myself over and over again.

But guys, how was your day? I hope you had an amazing Friday. And I hope you enjoyed this little update or whatever you could call this. I’ll of course keep you updated on my IELTS results. And yeah, until then I wish you all an amazing weekend and, as always, thanks for reading. x

Sherlock

Hola everyone.

You know, Netflix is actually a pretty cool thing. Yes, I did say before that I’m not the biggest fan of it, but it’s true that it has some big advantages. You can watch tv shows and movies that you could never watch anywhere else (except for that illegal stuff, but we won’t talk about that). And as you can probably guess by the title, I recently had the chance to watch the tv show Sherlock.

I just finished the last season, season 4, yesterday night and, honestly, I’m blown away. I mean, I’ve always been a big fan of the Sherlock Holmes stories. I loved the two movies with Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law. Maybe that’s why I was quite skeptical towards the tv series. But I think to be able to review both of them in the best way, you really have to separate those two. Because apart from the names and some main plots, they are completely different. And I tried to do that and that’s why I really fell in love with the tv show too.

I guess you all know the name Sherlock Holmes and what it means, the stories behind it. And the tv show Sherlock is like those stories, but just taken to our time, to the modern times. That’s also why the movies and the tv series are so different. I actually really enjoyed this aspect, but I think the old times just embody the stories better. But, anyways, I enjoyed it really much. Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock is truly mind-blowing. No wonder he had his big breakthrough because of this show. You can really see Sherlocks craziness in his eyes. And Martin Freeman as John Watson is just as good. I fell in love with Freeman when I saw him as Bilbo in The Hobbit and I’ve been a fan of him ever since. Maybe that’s why Watson is my favorite character of the series. Whenever he appeared, I saw Bilbo. And I love Bilbo. So it was pretty much obvious that I’d love Watson too. I think both actors are amazing at showing so many emotions with so little actions, with just their mimics, the looks in their faces. Especially at the last seasons. And yes, I did cry indeed. Quite often. But I laughed even more.

I think my favorite seasons are the second and the third one. And apart from the amazing acting, I loved the way the tv show works the most. You really have to concentrate on the stories and think. I often went to bed afterwards, still thinking about an episode. And I loved the amount of crazy and superfrustrating cliffhangers and shocking plot twists. That turns a good tv show into an amazing one. And the fact that one episode is one and half hours long, just makes everything even better.

You know, all I can say is that the stories are from an English writer, the tv show is English, the actors are English. Of course it had to be awesome. So, I can only recommend you guys to give this show a go, you won’t regret it. Seriously. Oh, and if any of you have already watched it, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment down below. Or if you just want to know more. Or say anything else. I’m here. And until then I wish you all an amazing weekend and hope you enjoyed this post. And, as always, thanks for reading. x

I did it

Hola everyone.

Okay, my mum did it. But hey, the outcome is the same. I seriously have tickets to see Ed. My Ed. Edward Christopher Sheeran. Basically the musical love of my life. And I still can’t believe it guys, oh my god.

First of all – have you got tickets too? If yes, oh my god, congrats. And if you don’t, go and check out the shows, some aren’t sold out yet. And there’s still the website twickets, you still have a chance of getting tickets there. Good luck.

And second, I’m currently listening to Divide and the tears are already streaming my down my face (actually Happier is playing at this exact moment and I’m more like ugly-crying). I seriously cannot tell you how happy I am that I’ll be seeing Ed. Even twice. How crazy is that? Holy moly. But first let’s talk about Saturday, the day. I woke up at like half past 10 to be ready for 11 o`clock when the tickets will be on sale. So, I was sitting there, in front of my laptop, on the edge of my nerves. I knew this one would be hard, really hard. And even harder because I knew that mum wouldn’t be able to buy tickets for me because she was on a gold tournament. So I was pretty much alone, apart from a friend, who was also trying to get tickets for us. And then it got 10:59 am and I got ready, refreshed the page and there it was, the crash. The whole site crashed. Of course I also tried to get tickets for other countries, just to make sure I’d really be able to see Ed. But those sites also crashed. Everything crashed. And I sat there, for more than a half hour. Nothing worked and I got more and more nervous with every second.

Then I tried to check for tickets in London. I always wanted to see Ed at Wembley, so this was a good plan B. And then I saw that Wembley was already sold out. And I got worried. Really worried. I had the feeling that other people were already grabbing tickets for Vienna and yeah, I can honestly say that I had a little breakdown. I was really scared. I mean, I could not not see Ed. That was no option. Never.

And then mum texted me and asked if I was able to get tickets. And I of course told her no. And suddenly she texted me and told me that she had tickets for us. And a minute later I got the confirmation email. And if I didn’t cry before that, I cried then. Oh my god, I was so relieved. I seriously still can’t believe it. And you know what’s the coolest part? My mum actually got tickets while playing golf. She told me she got the tickets, shot the ball and then proceeded to pay for them. And while she literally got us the best tickets while playing golf, I sat in front of my laptop, unable to do anything. Thank god the servers seemed to work from then on, so I tried to get tickets for my friend and at around 1 pm, I could finally shut my laptop.

And then I checked Stuart Camps twitter page. He’s Ed’s manager and pretty much the coolest and most amazing manager ever. He answered questions throughout the sale and still does, actually. And if you ever want to have news about Ed first hand, you just have to follow him. And as Ed’s shows sold out so fast, Stu started adding more and more shows. And I was so shocked. Like, speechless, really. Because before anything had happened Ed was said to play two shows at Wembley. He now plays four. FOUR. That’s about 360.000 people. Can you believe that? He sold out Wembley for four shows. An English guy with his guitar and a loop station. That’s crazy. And I’m so proud. Really.

And then it happened. Stu was tweeting again and then this came: “2nd Austria show going up soon”. And you can probably guess what happened then. I freaked out. Completely. A second show? In Vienna? A chance to see Ed two times? I thought I was dreaming. Imagining things. Crazy. But it was real. So I called and texted people, asking them if they would go to the second show with me. And at 3 pm, I had the tickets for two shows. And I’m still at the edge of bursting into tears every second because of it.

I’m so thankful. God. And you know what, my mum bought both tickets, for both shows. So I would never be sitting here, writing the things I’m writing, without her. And her ability of doing the impossible and getting tickets for the most-wanted-shows. She’s a superwoman. There’s no denying that now. So yeah, thank you to my mum. My hero.

So yeah, I am now seeing Ed in 393 days (yes, I installed a countdown) and I can’t wait. For real. Can time please hurry up? Please? Oh, and I can’t wait to get the tickets. I think that will be the moment I’ll finally realize it and then cry until I have no more happy-tears left. And before I forget it, I want to thank Ed’s management and whoever made those two shows possible. And of course Ed for making me so happy and being in this world, basically. I know it’s getting pretty cheesy now, so I’ll stop.

Anyways, guys, that is my story. But what’s yours? I really hope that you got tickets if you wanted them. And if you didn’t, I hope you will manage to get some. I actually saw that they are constantly adding shows, so just keep an eye on Stu’s twitter page, that’s my tip. And until that, I hope you enjoyed this post and I wish you all amazing week. And, as always, thanks for reading. x