Here's some more advice from someone who's been living abroad for 17 years now:
-try to make some local friends *who are not co-workers or students*. Doing so has several advantages: you'll be able to have a life outside of your job; you can learn more about the city you're in; you'll learn about Chinese culture; you'll have people you can complain to about work etc.
-try to make Chinese friends, and don't just hang around the local ex-pats: you'll pick up the language more quickly; you'll become more independent; you'll learn more about the local city and culture; you won't develop the "us and them" ex-pat syndrome
-the best way I've found to meet people is to go out for a walk in the early evening, find a local bar that looks safe and interesting, and become a regular there. Alcohol is a great social lubricant, and can work wonders to overcome the language barrier. Again, avoid ex-pat bars, as all you will hear about from the drunk and bitter foreigners is how terrible China is etc.
-here's a list of 120 survival words and phrases that any traveller should know when abroad. Learning how to say these things in Chinese before you go will make your life much easier and more enjoyable. The list is in a scholarly article, but you don't have to read the whole thing to be able to use the list:
http://www.victoria.ac.nz/lals/staff/Publications/paul-nation/1991-Crabbe-Survival-vocabulary.pdf
-Chinese pronunciation can be very, very, very difficult for English speakers, so it might be a good thing to try and find someone Chinese to practice with before you go. You might want to try an ad on Craigslist, or a local university to see if you can find a tutor. Heck, you could even try Craigslist Beijing to see if you can find a Skype "penpal" who wants to trade English for Chinese practice
-always carry a pocket sized notebook and a pen. This works well for drawings when gestures fail. The Chinese word for "toilet" is notoriously hard to pronounce, so I just drew a picture of it in my notebook, and would point to that when I wanted to ask someone where the restroom was. A notebook is also a great way to jot down new phrases, phone numbers etc. A real life traveller's notebook is like the fictional traveller's towel in the "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" series. Don't leave home without it
-be aware of culture shock, homesickness, and culture clash because the culture shock *will* happen to you at some point. Do some background Googling and reading before you go
-*don't* listen to the monkey. He's an idiot who doesn't know shit from Shinola. Teaching a language, especially teaching a language well, is hard work. I'd also do some background Googling and reading on "EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teaching in China". I've heard of problems arising when Chinese students who expect the teacher to lecture, and foreign teachers who expect the students to talk to each other. Granted this is at Chinese universities, and not at a conversation school, but still, you should always know your audience
-two books on teaching and learning English that you might want to check out are H.D. Brown's "Teaching by Principles" and Lightbown and Spada's "How Languages are Learned". Even if you're only planning on staying for a year, and not making a career out of teaching, these books offer lots of valuable insight and advice and may save you much grief. (The Lightbown and Spada book is a very interesting read on its own)
-conversely, English conversation schools tend to involve a lot of sales and salesmanship, sometimes with even more stress on these skills than on teaching skills. Be prepared to be the "salesman" sometimes, as part of your job duties. Sometimes the sales will come at the expense of teaching well. You have to learn how to balance the two
Some of this stuff may seem like a pain-in-the-ass to do, or over-preparation, but you're moving halfway across the world to place your health and well-being in the hands of an employer from a completely different culture that you haven't even met yet.
Ask yourself "What would Indiana Jones do?" in this situation. You'd better believe he'd be putting the "prepare" into "Preparation H". It's your film: which one do you want it to be? "Raiders of the Lost Ark" or "Hostel"?
If you ever have any questions, feel free to hit me up on PM.
