Apartment is ready to move in

We are now official residents of Bien Hoa, Vietnam, but before we moved in, the landlord wanted 3 months in advance which came out to 24,000,000VDN in cash!  I had brought $1000 cash with me which I thought would be enough.  I had not expected such a giant amount so had to get mo money from the bank. I thought this would be easy with my new international bank card, but was stymied when my bank card did not work.  I specifically chose this card because the company reimburses ATM fees worldwide.  I tried 3 ATMs to no avail, so I had to go into the bank and pay a 3% fee .  One of the ATMs stated that it could not accept chip technology; so much for new fangled technology!  This weekend I am going to try all of the 12 ATMs I saw on my way to the bank and if none of them work, I will be calling the company.  Anyway, we finally obtained mo money and signed a six month lease paying for half of the months in advance.  I will still need to come up with $1,000,000 VDN before my first paycheck.  We have the keys and are moving in tomorrow.  Luckily we talked the owner into a 6 month lease instead of the 12 month they desired.   This is just in case things do not work out with the school.  I found out that I still have 5 more steps to follow before obtaining my work visa.  And of course each of these steps costs mo money.  So, if you are going to work in Vietnam, be prepared to spend at least $2000, plus airfare, before you even receive a paycheck.