Walking Coleraine

Walking in Coleraine

I’ve written about the university where I studied last semester. I’ve elaborated on a trip to London and weekends in Belfast. What I haven’t spent enough time on is the town I studied itself—Coleraine, Northern Ireland.

It’s a large town near the Northern coast of Northern Ireland.  It’s a fairly wealthy area  and is about twenty minutes or so away from one of the most important Northern Ireland tourist attractions, the Giant’s Causeway. It is near two coastal towns, Portrush and Porstewart, where many students live and which have much more to do in terms of restaurants and night life.

This description is accurate, but not how I remember Coleraine. Perhaps it would be helpful to think back on this town in moments—in walks.

University of Ulster-Coleraine is not right in the town. Rather, there’s a bit of walk from campus to any place you want to go in town. My first foray off campus and into Coleraine was probably the first day I had arrived. My flat-mates and I needed to pick up some food, so we asked our RA where to find a grocery store. She told us the Spar was about a ten or fifteen minute walk. I had been thrown off by “the Spar.” What was a Spar? What kind of Northern Irish slang was that? It turned out to simply be the name of a popular convenience store.I remember now how quiet my flat-mates and I were. We were still getting used to each other, still thrown off by this new university and new country.



House in Coleraine

Thankfully for us, the walk was pretty straightforward—literally. A large part of the walk towards town from my on-campus accommodations was a long, straight road behind our lodgings. On that road, we passed a lot of houses. Something I noticed fairly early was that people hung their clothes to dry, which is still actually pretty shocking considering how often and sporadically it rains in Northern Ireland. Also on that road is the Coleraine Borough Council offices, which I’d visit with the other international students for a reception during International Students Orientation week.

Finally, we reached a large intersection and the Spar. The Spar is located in a little clump of stores (including the Winemark where we purchased  Apple Toffee Cider, the most delicious drink I’ve ever had in my life), but you have to go past it and walk a little longer to really reach the heart of town.  



St. Patrick's Church

The Spar is pretty small, so more intense food shopping required the Tesco, the big grocery store in town. During orientation, my American friend Zoe, my flat-mates from Hong Kong Vicky and Tiffany, and one or two other international students decided to venture to Tesco.We had just finished a tour of campus, so we asked our tour guide for directions. He had spoken quickly and vaguely. It probably didn’t help that we were far from experts on the Northern Irish accents yet. With some idea of where to go, we headed into town in search of the Tesco and had stop multiple times for directions Everyone was very friendly, even if they didn’t give the clearest directions. In typical fashion for Northern Ireland, it began raining on-and-off during our long, twisted trek to Tesco. I easily could classify it as  a miserable experience, but instead, it felt like an adventure. And it certainly felt like an accomplishment when we finally happened upon the Tesco.



Christmas!

Another complicated walk came soon after, when friends and I attempted to find the bus station in town (something we’d easily find later and be astounded that we hadn’t been able to do before). This resulted in a lot of wandering around Coleraine and snapping pictures of our surroundings—of yet another gorgeous church, for instance, or beautiful houses. There’s something very different about the buildings and homes in Northern Ireland. They seem older. Dare I say, cuter…thought  that may be a patronizing designation.

Countless walks followed these early ones. 

Walks to church on Sunday mornings—that beautiful Church of Ireland church towards the center of down, smack dab in the middle of the pedestrian shopping area. Walks back from Tesco, arms loaded with groceries. Walks to the bus station that had once eluded me, perhaps with a black backpack on my back as I headed for adventure. 



Of course, not every memory of the town is a memory of walking.

Mayor + penguin=dancing fun

Zoe and I went to the Christmas tree light-up ceremony in town, for instance. That memory involves lots of standing in the cold, sometimes retreating into stores to get warm. We stumbled upon the Gangam Style dance competition just a little too late, but both felt we would’ve been top contenders for the prize:  a two-night hotel stay in Belfast. We witnessed a short Christmas parade with children in colorful costumes and SpongeBob Squarepants and a man in a penguin costume. Santa Claus gave a short speech, and the Mayor of Coleraine, who we had met at the reception for international students, also spoke. Zoe and I both enjoyed what happened next, and I know I take it with me as one of my favorite mental images from the semester. In front of the stage, the Mayor danced happily to Christmas music with the penguin. After taking a little bit of time to admire the lights and get our picture taken in front of the big Christmas tree, we hurried back to campus with freezing hands. There we go—the memory goes back to those walks again.



River Bann

And now I think about my last walk around Coleraine. I had to go get souvenirs for my dad downtown and didn’t want to wait until it was dark, but camera in hand, I decided to take a little detour on a side street to look at some houses and walk by the River Bann. I was feeling very thoughtful about my study abroad experience, staring out at the river, a large rolling green hill in the distance that struck me as particularly Irish. This contemplative moment was interrupted by the realization I had stepped in dog poop. which was frustrating but struck me as  pretty funny timing.

After that, I proceeded into downtown Coleraine.  I wanted to savor every moment. Even though I was ready to go home by this point (I missed both my family and all my friends at Susquehanna), I still didn’t like the feeling that I might never go back to this place again. After I had finished shopping, I remember taking a photograph of the  town center area, sure some of the passerby thought I was taking their picture.

And then I walked away.

 Last walk through downtown Coleraine, Northern Ireland

That’s how most semester abroad experiences end, I guess. The locations we study are places we walk through and then walk away from. But the "walk away from" is something I can take knowing that I did, indeed, get to "walk through."