There are good days and there are bad days.

And then there are days like today, which entirely defy description.  There were elements of the good and the bad, but mostly it was brutally long.  I woke up at 4:45 am and was on the tram before 6am, so by the time class started at 8 I was ready for my nap.  My first two classes were mildly enthusiastic and even understood a majority of what I said.  At the end of  the second class we even continued our conversation for a few minutes in French, since the students had plenty of things they wanted to say but couldn't articulate in English.  I was excited that they wanted to keep talking no matter what language it was in, and they were excited that I was willing to let them do it in French.  I was tired but pleased with how my first two hours went.  And then came hour number three, in which one girl actually cried when I asked her to read something in English.  Not good.  Today was in fact one of the first times I truly felt like a teacher (generally I feel like some sort of jester hired to mime things emphatically in front of apathetic French teenagers), and I suppose it's because today was the first time something actually really went wrong.   After that class finally ended, I happily went into town to get lunch, and at least 5 different students greeted me enthusiastically as I passed, saying things like "Bonjour Catherine!" and, "How are you today?" - which helped brighten my mood considerably.  Then it was back to class, and this time I was thrilled because it was with my favorite group.  We discussed immigration in France and the US, a topic that I certainly couldn't hope to talk about with any of my other classes, but these kids are both interested in politics AND really good at English - double whammy.  That was my last class of the day, so all's well that end's well I guess.  I made it back to Bordeaux in time for dinner with friends, and now I'm going to revel in the fact that I have a four-day weekend starting tomorrow.  Bonne nuit, tout le monde!