each word has a different character, sometimes characters can be read one way (meaning and pronunciation both) in one context and a different way in another, stroke orders are important, the sheer amounts of vocabulary

This is what puts me off about Japanese. Three different ways of writing plus the dropping of the subject and different registers ... I so know what you mean about the optimum language learning days being behind you. That said, I do love words and I can't help but try to make sense of them. One of the things I loved about Firefly was the inclusion of Mandarin and I do remember quite a lot of it. Of course, I pronounce it like a US/Canadian actor, though. Whenever we go to our local Asian hypermarket, I'm so tempted to say xie-xie but with tone being important, I'm afraid I'll end up saying something really rude!