Warm up

 What does "living small" require?

 What do people have to give up?

 Do you think you would enjoy living small?

Watch the first part of the video (until 6:00) and choose what Emma can do in her tiny
Tokyo apartment

Transcript
Bryce Emma
Bryce: Today, I'm in Tokyo, where I'm about to meet a fellow YouTuber, Emma, who lives in a
crazy cool, but crazy small apartment. This one I can't wait to check out.
Bryce: Hey Emma!
Emma: Hi! Hey!
Bryce: Hey, I'm Bryce!
Emma: Nice to meet you!
Bryce: Nice to meet you.
Emma: Yeah, come on in!
Bryce: Thank you! I'm so excited to be here.
Emma: Yeah! I'm excited to show you my tiny little ... little home. Welcome.
Bryce: It's very small, isn't it?
Emma: Yeah, it's ... it's a bit tight, you can touch both the walls.
Bryce: How big is this place actually?
Emma: Uh, it says 8 square metres, so ...
Bryce: Eight square meters?
Emma: Eight square meters, yeah.
Bryce: Wow!
Emma: It's pretty ... pretty, pretty tight.
Bryce: So, as a city apartment, this is actually a lot smaller than a lot of the tiny houses I've
visited.
Emma: Yeah.
Bryce: How did you actually come to be here in this place?
Emma: Well, I spent ages, like, looking for apartments and everything, but this place just caught
my eye because it's got two separate levels. A lot of places are just, like— the bed is right next
to the bathroom and the kitchen, and you, like, eat next to your bed, and it just felt a bit wrong.
So, I finally found somewhere that has two levels, which, kind of, separates my living and my
sleeping area. But, yeah, I just ... I always wanted to be in Japan, and I found a way to get here.
Bryce: Being an apartment in downtown Tokyo, this is really small. But is it actually, kind of,
typical of the apartments in this area?
Emma: I mean, Japanese apartments are typically really small, but this ... it's at least more
narrow than anything else I've ever seen before, like ... you can touch both the walls.
Bryce: Yeah.
Emma: Uhm, but yeah, this is definitely a bit smaller.
Bryce: It's strange in a way because even though it is so narrow, and, as you say ... I mean, I
don't even have to stretch out my arms to touch both walls ... but even though it's so narrow, it
doesn't feel super confined. And I think that's because you've got all the height there as well,
don't you?
Emma: Yeah, I actually think this, uhm, this height is super useful because I can actually finally
stretch at least in one direction. I think without this extra space, it would feel a bit ... maybe a bit
too cramped, but it feels good.
Bryce: Can you show me around?
Emma: Yeah, so when you enter a Japanese home, you go take your shoes off in the genkan.
Because even when they gave me this place, they were, like, "You must take your shoes off!"
Like, even if it's part of your culture to wear shoes inside, you have to respect Japanese standards
and take your shoes off inside.
Bryce: Fair enough.
Emma: So, there's, like, a little shoe cupboard here, which I keep all my shoes in, and then this is
my closet, which has coats and stuff.
Bryce: Ah, right!
Emma: I don't know if I should show you because it's really full.
Bryce: It may be a full cupboard ...
Emma: Yeah.
Bryce: There is no shame in the number of clothes that you have in that closet. I think girls back
home in Australia or New Zealand would, uhm ...
Emma: Yeah.
Bryce: ... would struggle to be that spartan.
Emma: I did really select with, like, my fashion choices here because I don't ... I don't have room
to be luxurious. It just keeps life simple.
Bryce: And the entrance-way microwave ...
Emma: Yeah!
Bryce: ... and toaster oven?
Emma: Yeah, so. Yeah, you have your toaster oven, your microwave. This stuff actually moved.
It used to be over there, which made the space feel really, really, like, claustrophobic.
Bryce: Right.
Emma: Because there was nowhere, like, nowhere to move around. But I moved all the stuff
over here, and, yeah ... This toaster oven is, kind of ... I had to get these sticky pads because
when there's an earthquake it moves.
Bryce: Right!
Emma: And so I usually, like, sit right there, and if these sticky pads weren't there, it would, like,
just keep moving towards my head, and I was, like, "One day, this is going to suck." So, yeah,
now it doesn't move in an earthquake, which is cool.
Bryce: And then more storage in here, for cutlery.
Emma: Yeah, just cutlery, everything ...
Bryce: Pots, pans.
Emma: Any cupboard thing just has bits and bobs of everything really. There's, like, a general
theme, but if I just have something and I'm like, "I need to put this somewhere," I just, like,
chuck it in. It's not the best method, but whatever gets stuff out of the open space.
Bryce: You've even got a yoga mat here!
Emma: Yeah, so, ah! Sometimes I like to, like, work out or do yoga and try ... Okay, it doesn't
fit, like ... it just ... like, the corner ... it's, like, in there ... so, do you want me to show you?
Bryce: Yeah, go on, let's have a look.
Emma: Yeah, all right. I try to, like, go through here. So, this is, like, the biggest space in my
house, so I'll just, like, try to lay it down like this, but, like, the table's just in the way. So I can
usually get to about there. And, like, doing exercises is really frustrating because some days it'll
be, like, "Okay, now stretch your arms to the side," and I'm like ... And I'll, like, be lying on the
ground and— Ah! It just— it never quite works out, but it's enough. Like, I can do stuff this
way. But, yeah, that's where I do my exercises. A for effort, right?
Bryce: Absolutely!
Emma: You just got to try everything, and if it doesn't work, you try something else. I think that's
good about small spaces. Like, it makes you think a bit more. Keeps you creative.
Bryce: And then you have your office area here?
Emma: Yeah, this is, like, pretty much where I spend most of my time. I just get, like, a chair,
my computer and, yeah, it's ... it's just where I edit. Like, that's where I edit all my videos, it's
where I answer all my mail, where I do pretty much all of my work. But it's nice because I can at
least, like, look out the window at the back, yeah ... I know that my neighbour, he's got his desk
facing the wall, and I couldn't deal with that, like ...
Bryce: No.
Emma: If I'm, like, working and I look up, and all I see is a wall, I get so, like ... like, "Let me
out!" So, yeah, I can always see outside. Yeah, I always need something living, just like
something happening in the space. Like ... That's why I have so many pot plants everywhere.
Bryce: Yeah.
Emma: And I want even more, but ... yeah. If there's no living things, if I can't see the outside
world, things just feel really stale, and that's when this space can feel a bit small. I did find that a
bit of a challenge when I got here because this is, like, all the furniture isn't mine, like, this is a
fully furnished, come-as-it-is apartment, and trying to find different ways to make this space my
own was, like, challenging, but it feels really, like, rewarding.
Bryce: Yeah.
Emma: Because it is a challenge. Especially when you can't pick your own furniture, and I can't
drill into the walls or anything, so I just have to let it be, but influence it ...
Bryce: Yeah.
 Emma: ... with all my stuff. And because you have to be so selective with your possessions, it's,
like, I choose only things that mean a lot to me,
Bryce: Yeah.
Emma: and really help the space.

1. Emma:

 can touch both opposite walls;

 can stretch her arms in any direction;
 does yoga;
 keeps herself creative in her apartment;
 keeps her cutlery in the kitchen;
 has potted plants around the apartment;
 doesn't have a toaster and a microwave oven;
 doesn't have an office where she can work.

Key (1,3,4,6)

Watch the second part of the video from 6:00 untill 11:20 and answer the questions
below

1. How does Emma manage to find some cutting space for cooking?

2. What things does Emma have in her apartment that are designed for living small?

3. What does Bryce think of Emma's bedroom?

4. What does Emma think to be the biggest advantage of living in a space like that?
Bryce: And then there's the kitchen space down over here?
Emma: Yeah, yeah. So, pretty much ... this is actually kind of typical of Japan. Uhm, so, you get
no bench space when you get an apartment in Japan really. Even if you get, like, a big apartment,
for some reason they value sink space more than cutting space.
Bryce: Right.
Emma: I've no idea why! But it's just really typical of Japan. So, what I did was I, uhm, I
managed to find a chopping board that manages to fit just over the space, so I can cut on the
chopping board and actually have somewhere to do things.
Bryce: Your seat down here ... your little chair down here is so cute!
Emma: Well, I'm quite lucky to be in Japan because, like, no one sits at a table here. Like,
everyone sits on the floor usually.
Bryce: Yeah.
Emma: Like, all, like, dining tables and everything are usually, like, on the floor, so you sit either
on floor chairs or just on your knees, or sit cross-legged, like ... The funny thing is, like, my feet
don't ... Yeah, there's just not enough space to, like, put my feet down fully, but, I mean, it's
enough space. And sometimes I'll edit here. Like, I have, uhm ... just reach over here ... I have
this little table I found. Sorry, snake plant! So I can pull that out and sometimes I'll, like, edit
here. If it's raining, I'll just, like, have my computer here, do my thing and just be able to look out
the window and have a good time.
Bryce: Yeah!
Emma: It's great, I love it. It's, like, a little paradise. Yeah.
Bryce: And, so, you've even actually got a little balcony here as well!
Emma: Yeah, yeah, I do. It's a little ... it's not the smallest one I've ever seen in Japan. Like,
sometimes they'll have balconies which are just, like ... you can kind of open the door a little bit,
but ...
Bryce: Yeah.
Emma: Yeah, whatever space you get in Japan, you make the most of it, so ... And out here, I'll
just show you ... this is my clothesline.
Bryce: Oh, right!
Emma: So, whenever I do my washing, just fold it out like that, and that's it.
Bryce: Brilliant!
Emma: Yeah!
Bryce: Oh, that's excellent!
Emma: It makes me so happy, yeah. This ... going to the shops here ... there's everything that I'm,
like, "I would've never thought of that."
Bryce: Yeah.
Emma: Because no way ... yeah. I mean, some things are, kind of, unnecessary, but a lot of
things are, like ... when I first came here, some things are like, "I'll never use that!" But now I'm
like, "I need that!" Because the way life here is just so different.
Bryce: And your bathroom here!
Emma: Yeah! It's super interesting. This is my little bathroom. So, a lot of Japanese bathrooms ...
it's kind of hard to explain, but ... this is the shower room.
Bryce: Right.
Emma: So, everything gets really wet super easily every time. So then you have these little
bathroom slippers, so when it is wet, you can just put them on, and you don't get your feet wet,
which is super convenient. But, like, when I first moved here, I was like, "Where's the toilet?" I
thought there might be, like, a public toilet somewhere. I thought that I'd been, like, messed over
by the company. And I was, like, looking around, trying to find it, but then I realised, you just,
like, get this, and you pull the sink away ...
Bryce: Oh wow!
Emma: And the toilet's under the sink!
Bryce: Look at that!
Emma: It's so cool, yeah. And there's, like, uhm, toilet paper and everything. It just, yeah ... It's
easy.
Bryce: That is actually really clever this one, isn't it?
Emma: Yeah, it's one of my favourite things. But yeah, it's a really neat little space. And there's,
like, a little fan in here, so that when I shower, it, like ... I don't need to air it out or anything.
And there's, like, a little medicine cabinet at the top, so, yeah, I think they've done great with this
space.
Bryce: And there's still another floor to go.
Emma: Yes! The bedroom.
Bryce: Can we take a look?
Emma: Yeah, yeah. Don't know how we're all going to fit up there, but come up! Welcome!
Bryce: This is super cosy!
Emma: Yeah, yeah. It's a little loft.
Bryce: Yeah.
Emma: I'm happy because, well, for me anyway, there's enough, like, headspace; like, I can sit
up and I don't ... but I don't know about you.
Bryce: Yeah, I'm totally comfortable here as well.
Emma: Oh yeah, you're totally fine! Yay! Yeah. I was so happy about that because I was scared,
like, with a loft, I'd feel like I was getting into a coffin, but ...
Bryce: Yeah.
Emma: But this is, like, super nice.
Bryce: I think there's something about being in a smaller space when you're sleeping that, I don't
know, for me, I actually find it really comforting.
Emma: Me too, I was going to use the word "comforting". Yeah, I even, like, when I was a kid, I
liked to have even just a mattress on each side just to give it a kind of, like a ... like a smaller,
like, feeling.
Bryce: Yeah.
Emma: I don't know. Like, what animal sleeps out in the open? Like, I feel that animals always
go to, like, a cave or they just try to get into, like, a corner or something. I don't know. I think a
lot of humans like to feel like they're in a tight, nice, cosy space. I don't know. Sometimes, I'm
like, "Oh, I would love a big enough space so that I can do this, or, I'd love this, or, I want this
and extra!" But once I have that, I'm going to want another thing, and I'm going to want the next
step, and I don't think I'll ever be satisfied until I'm satisfied with where I am presently, so ...
Bryce: What do you think the big advantage of living in a space like this is?
Emma: It keeps you ... I still love that it keeps me creative. And I love living by myself. Like, I
know there are much bigger spaces that people get with, like, shared housing things, but I love
having that time to myself and having that space that is my own to, like, relax, unwind and really
just get into the zone of things. But, yeah, I think just being able to think creatively and have all
these opportunities to ... to make this space my own in whatever way I can, I think that's my
favourite thing about this space.

Key
1. She found a chopping board that fits
2. A tiny table, a clothesline, a sink which you can pull away in the bathroom
3. It is super cozy
4. She likes that it keeps her creative