Nr Fairy - You being a bloke probably has nothing to do with it. You know Whirly, she treats people as individuals, and makes no assumptions based on stereotypes.
I think she does believe you, and everyone else, but is finding it more of a challenge than she expected.
(Sorry Whirls, I don't mean to make this sound like we're talking about you behind your back!)
There being only one other person doing the course it must be difficult to gauge how you're doing. If you read through the responses on this thread though, everyone has similar experiences.
And Whirly, if you come back to your house before Friday night I'll lock you out and make you go straight back.