It's the first time in my life I have earnestly tried to pick up another language and I am finding it fascinating. The grammar is so simple, the characters so complex and the tones force me to catalogue sounds in a way I have never even thought to. It's all extremely interesting!
What I am doing here is for myself as much as for anyone else -- I want to look back years from now and to see how I managed to start speaking Chinese, or to try to figure out why it is I failed! If someone else can get something from this, great!