Wow, eleven years is a long time to live in Japan! Where in Japan did you live? I know that I definitely want to live and teach in Tokyo or an area close to the metropolis; it's honestly one of my favorite cities, haha.
I have been thinking about it; I actually follow a few Facebook pages regarding about deaf culture in Japan that posts both in English and Japanese which is nice. Learning Japanese sign language is also something else I have considered too. What kind of events do they normally hold? Do you have any online resources about the deaf community and JSL you could maybe point me to?
I definitely will keep up with studying Japanese though! I really want to become more fluent in it. Let's stay in contact because I'll have a lot of questions about Japan, haha. Thank you for responding! I appreciate it.