Vietnamese dorm cooking

After spending an afternoon lingering in the parks at campus, with an English novel and my stack of Chinese practice cards, I tried to seduce one of my Vietnamese classmates (named Phoenix) to join me to the little cafe next to the always busy bicycle repair men, who have their outdoor workplace on a little square behind some dormitory blocks close to the old foreign student dorm, where many of my classmates live. It's the place which serves the best coffee on campus (Vietnamese drip-coffee, served in a one-cup aluminum filter placed on top of a glass preloaded with half a centimeter of condensed milk, which is stirred after brewing is completed, and then poured into another glass filled with ice cubes and stirred again, making it a satisfying do-it-yourself procedure).
She declined, argueing she had to take care of her friend (another classmate) who had injured her ankle and was now immobilized. A bit later, while I was still enjoying my coffee, she texted me to come over to join the small gathering of Vietnamese students in the room of the unfortunate ankle twister. I walked over to the old building, which I had declared unfit for living when I first visited it just after paying my tuition fee, but nonetheless was occupied by a fairly large contingent of new students, including the majority of my classmates. They would all move to the new foreign student dormitory at the East gate at the beginning of the next semester. It is not completely finished yet, but nevertheless already in use. I pass it regularly when visiting the food court opposite the building for lunch, and see many students walking in and out while workers are finishing the steps leading up to the main entrance. I don't really follow the logic in assigning dorm rooms to students, but am happy now to live outside, without being subjected to the strictly controlled curfew and no-overnight-guests policy.
The plan was to cook together and have dinner in the small room with the 5 of us, plus the mother of one of the girls who would arrive from Vietnam in the next hour with a large suitcase. She would stay for a week, to spend the holidays with her daughter studying abroad. At least one other Vietnamese classmate had left for Vietnam to visit his family, but the other way around is also an option of course. I had assumed they were all scholarship students, but at least these three were not, to my surprise. Their tuition is paid for by their relatively wealthy families in Vietnam, who all are involved in some form of trade with China. One mother imports silk from China to Ho Chi Minh City, another has a real-estate business and finds homes for Vietnamese business people.
Phoenix and I walked to the on-campus market, to buy an array of vegetables, meat, eggs, and rice. After returning to the dorm we carried some electric cooking ware (a electronic pressure cooker, and a computer-controlled hotplate) from her room upstairs to the ground floor room of our host, and collected bowls, utensils and condiments from the rooms of the others. The Vietnamese had invested heavily in brand new electric appliances (also a rice cooker was present) and cooking materials. They declared they don't like the Chinese food, and therefore always cook themselves. I had wondered why they never joined for lunch after class..
It was a busy affair, with all the food preparation going on in the small room, desks being converted to cooking surfaces and vegetables washed in the bathroom. The building lacks a proper kitchen, so everybody who does cook at home just improvises in her/his room.
The food was delicious, but in my opinion not very different from the Chinese fare I got used to here (except for the seasoning with Vietnamese fish sauce).
All in all a nice evening, with some Chinese practice thrown in for laughs ;)