What do you need space for anyway? I mean, seriously. It was my own apartment, so I could sleep, cook a meal and take a shit in privacy, or smuggle in someone for company (through the fire escape -- visitors were technically not allowed!). And cleaning the place from top to bottom took about 5 min.

For comparison, I spent 9 months later on in an army barracks room of only slightly greater dimensions, but shared with 11 other people. *That* kinda sucked.