Sometimes Katrin felt like she was the tourist and the tourist was her tour guide. Not because of anything in particular—her knowledge of the tourist attractions or sites they visited was no greater than that of the tourists she accompanied. These tourists, who came from academic and research circles, actually knew far more. As far as Katrin knew, Borobudur Temple was merely a magnificent pile of stones left behind by the Hindu-Buddhist kingdoms, as well as a cultural rite. But according to a foreign researcher, beneath the temple stood a secret chamber containing treasure in the form of gold pieces worth an extraordinary amount. Enough to pay off all of Indonesia's debt. Too bad that theory was still being debated!
That was how it was. Katrin gained an incredible amount of knowledge and new insight while accompanying tourists from the scientific community. They were sometimes remarkably generous about sharing information and knowledge with their tour guide. Katrin discovered new things that had always been far beyond her way of thinking. Accompanying intellectual tourists was one of the most memorable experiences of her life. She gained not only a fun traveling experience, but an enlightening one as well.
Adi Sucipto International Airport was bustling with people coming and going, most of them preparing to travel. Others had come to drop someone off or pick someone up. Katrin herself was there to pick up a group of tourists she would accompany during their three-day visit. Mr. Irawan had already given her their arrival schedule. There was supposed to be a special staff member assigned to pick them up, but the person appointed was unavailable. So Katrin had been tapped to do it instead.
Accompanied by a driver in a car designated for airport pickups, Katrin headed to the airport. If there was no delay, the plane from Jakarta would arrive at nine in the morning. Katrin had been standing by at the arrivals exit for ten minutes already. But even fifteen minutes after the scheduled arrival time, the group she was waiting for still hadn't appeared. Katrin began to grow anxious and uneasy. Her hand was starting to ache from holding a sign that read, “Welcome Mr. Samuel Walcott and friends.” Unfortunately, Katrin had never met or even seen the face of Mr. Samuel Walcott, the group's leader.
Katrin regretted not asking earlier to see a photo of the person she was supposed to pick up. All she had been told was that the group of Western tourists consisted of seven people: four men and three women. They had actually already been in Indonesia for several days, traveling from Medan to Palembang, Bandung, and finally Jakarta. From Jakarta, they would continue on to Yogyakarta and Solo as the final stops on their twenty-day tour of Indonesia.
Katrin was worried that the group she was picking up had gotten lost or had arrived earlier and she had somehow missed them. She had already asked at the information desk, and the attendant said there was a slight delay with the arrival of the flight Katrin had mentioned. But how could “slight” mean almost half an hour? Katrin wasn't satisfied with the airport attendant's explanation. She contacted Mr. Irawan and asked for confirmation that the group had actually departed from Jakarta. She also asked him to send her a profile photo of the man named Samuel Walcott via WhatsApp. But Mr. Irawan didn't have one. He told Katrin to be patient and keep waiting.
In a joking tone, he instead said, “If you want to know what Mr. Walcott looks like, he's tall and the most handsome of all Western men in general!”
Katrin gave him a wry grin. If the only clue was that he was handsome, that was relative. Most Western men were handsome and tall anyway. How many Westerners had dark skin, flat noses, and short statures? A short Western man would be the exception. But the Western man Katrin was waiting for was tall. She was about to ask what kind of handsome her boss meant. Maybe he could give her a comparison—a movie star or a singer, perhaps. But before Katrin could get the question out, an announcement came over the speakers about the arrival of Flight A from Jakarta. That was the plane carrying the tourists from England!