"Oh my God! A talking muffin!"

Just to keep you all updated on things that are happening:

-My neighbor Marc came back for a few days to take some exams and we hung out and it was awesome but now he's gone and my life is sadder for it :-(

-I've been starting to really enjoy some things that I used to hate. Most significantly: the city of Paris, and my job. Maybe more on that later.

-I have a Couchsurfer here from Australia. It's been a good time. Last night we watched Flight of the Conchords and compared Kiwi and Aussie accents and determined that the American English equivalent of the Australian word "bogan" is "white trash," although without all of the negative connotations. But maybe with some of them.

-My vacation week is over. All I did was work, but it was nice not to go to class. Class starts again today. Good times.

Okay well I have a little time before Méthodes et outils pour la linguistique française, so I'll write about why I'm starting to like my job. Maybe tomorrow I'll write about why I'm starting to like Paris - it's a little more complicated.

It's just that lately I've been having some really good classes. Even if some of the guys don't say anything or they whine and complain about every single aspect of the class, there are always some guys who start to get into it once you get them to talk. I've had a few classes recently where my students have been giving me positive feedback and it's really nice. A few weeks ago I had a Louvre class and only one guy showed up because they all had exams the next day, so it was just me and this guy and we went to the Louvre and it was a little awkward but I showed him my favorite parts and then we went and looked at the Napoleon III apartments which I hadn't seen yet, and we actually talked the whole time and I was pretty bored but it seems like he had a relatively good time, because afterwards when we were walking back to the Metro he was telling me how some of his teachers are just tired all the time (well so am I!) and don't talk and don't engage their students and that he won't sign up for those teachers' classes again but how this class was better because I actually engaged him. And that was nice.

Then last week I had a "fun" class where we just sat around and talked, and anyone who has ever sat around and talked with me knows that I can get very animated, and occasionally even amusing. By the end of the class my students were asking when my next class was and asking me to create classes at times when they are free to sign up for them. So I did! I made a poker class for this Friday, and they are going to teach me how to play poker (not for money!). So that was also pretty gratifying.

Finally, a few days ago, I had a reading class and, again, I got pretty animated and just had fun, and when I am having fun they start to have fun. That one was the best, because a few of the guys were just really getting into the conversation, and when it was time to go I told them that the class is over, and they were all saying things like, "Well, we don't have to go quite yet... We have some time..." Of course I didn't want to stay, so we all left, but still. Gratifying.

Last night we had a tutor meeting where our boss yells at us and we plan events. Except he's very pleased with us, and someone else is planning our St. Patrick's Day event. I volunteered to help plan the big end-of-the-year party and then Erin did, too. So that will be a lot of fun, too, I think. Afterwards a few of us went out for beers with our boss, which we charged to the school because obviously it was "un brainstorming." So all in all, things are going well with the job. My students like me, my boss likes me, and I like my paycheck. All is well.

Okay, I must to class. (No, I did not forget to write "go." I was doing that weird Shakespeare-esque way of saying you must go somewhere without using the "go." Because I'm that cool.)

P.S. I can't stop listening to KT Tunstall.