Stu-stu-studio... oh no!

One week ago we thought we would be moving into a studio apartment on campus. That was not the plan, mind you, as I'd applied for the largest apartment available to graduate students, which is a 1 bedroom. We'd been mentally preparing to downsize to a single bedroom for the three of us, and strategizing on how we'd best manage sleeping in one room. We did it for the first four months of Dewi's life, so what's another four months, right?

Well, when we received confirmation on our housing for the semester, back in early December, the offer was for a studio apartment. And I was devastated. I've roped my wife and daughter into this little adventure, and, guess what, the only privacy we'll ever have is when we shut the bathroom door! I know that families make it work in cramped quarters. In fact, the grad student apartments here (studios and 1 bedrooms) are set aside for families of up to 4 members. I don't care how well behaved one's children are-- that's a lot going on in just a few hundred square feet. But people do it. The "limits" on room sharing for public housing is something like 3 people per bedroom. I was in a one-room, four person quad my freshman year, but we're talking about shoebox-sized bedrooms here in Singapore.

From the sounds of it, kids here spend most of their time running around outside anyway, so maybe that's part of the solution. We're eleven floors up, but with every window in the apartment constantly open, we catch almost every yelp and squeal from the playground below. Oh, and the amphitheater outside. That was an interesting choice on the part of the architects. I don't know if we'll be treated to any organized performances in the amphitheater, but the little kids have figured out physics and acoustics pretty quickly. Karina and I check on Dewi (unnecessarily) a couple of times each day when we swear that it's her crying, only to see a silent, sweaty little cherub sleeping on her tummy. With 200 apartments full of young families, there's a chorus of cries and giggles around here all day into the night.

But back to the studio. Karina and I convinced ourselves that we could manage to live with Dewi in a studio for the semester. I was told that all the 1 bedrooms (which are only 25% of the apartments) had been allocated. My pleading was not going to get us anywhere. But I made one final effort, and shortly before we left, I received word that a 1 bedroom was available and that my offer would be adjusted accordingly. Suddenly, having a bedroom and a little extra square footage sounded extravagant! Now that we're moved in, we realize that we still have to be creative with how we use the space, to make it feel like our home. And by home, I mean Dewi's personal playground.