Paul Tweiten

Far Eastern Overexposure Paul Tweiten

On the brink of being divorced, feeling like a cast-aside, middle-aged man, American forestry professional Paul Tweiten accepts a job that casts him into anything but the familiar. In the summer of 1995, he leaves the United States to manage a remote timber harvest organization in Siziman Bay in the Russian Far East. In this memoir, Tweiten narrates the story of his experiences traveling to a foreign country, not speaking the language and not knowing what to expect. Life in the isolated camp is nothing like he could imagine. Far Eastern Overexposure shows how he overcame the challenges of being thrown into both an unfamiliar culture and lifestyle. Meeting colorful Russian characters and gaining lifelong friends, Tweiten transitions from being completely lost and confused to that of understanding how to become a successful businessman in Russia. Far Eastern Overexposure mixes business with pleasure while providing colorful insight into the Russian country and culture. I kept bugging Andrei about the photos throughout the week. I told him that if I could just have them for a day I could prepare a map identifying potential harvest areas and a conceptual road plan. One afternoon, Andrei came into my office, closed the door behind him, and laid the two infrared aerial photographs on my desk. He told me "dvah dehn" (two days), and placing his finger to his lips, signaled me to be quiet about this and then left. I was in shock . . . but . . . began to work on an operating plan.