2-out-of-6 year rule for J-1 residency exemption

[smapple79]

I'm a Canadian citizen who was living and working in the US from Sep 2008 to Aug 2010 on a J-1 Research Scholar visa. I was paid in part by a US employer.

Normally someone in my situation would be considered a non-resident alien for 2008 and 2009, and a resident alien in 2010. What makes my situation more interesting is that for 2009 I was *not* eligible to use my J-1 to exclude days of presence (based on a previous J-1 in 2003).

I'm confused about the 2-out-of-6 year rule for excluding days of presence under J-1 "Teacher" status.

Does this rule (1) just look at the basic fact of whether you were on J-1 in 2 out of the previous 6 years, or (2) does it also consider whether you were actually eligible to exclude days of presence in those previous years under J-1.

The instructions for Form 8843 and the form itself seem to give contradictory answers, so I'm not sure what my residency status for 2010 should be.

Thanks for any clarification,
Josh