WONDER in Vienna

Earlier this year, I was visiting Germany. On one weekend, my friends and I planned to go to Vienna in Austria. After 6 hours of drive from a town near Heidelberg, we reached Vienna late in the evening. There I met other friends whom my friends from Germany knew since before. It took no time for us to become friends. We toured the city throughout the next day, seeing buildings from Medieval times and Renaissance.

In the evening, when hunger was on its peak, I was looking for some place where we could have dinner. But my friends had a different plan: We were going to see the "dormitory" and would have dinner there.

At first I did not understand where exactly they wanted to go. Why dormitory? Which dormitory? And how come we would have food there?

After a not-so-long drive from Zentrum, we arrived at the 'dormitory'. It was a 4-storey building of contemporary style similar to the buildings around it. As we entered the building, we went to upper floor. The stairs opened in a big hall with more than a hundred young people in it. That obviously looked like a college cafeteria.

I was told that the food was halal, so I took all that was offered. It was a simple meal with goat-stomach soup (a Turkish delicacy), pasta, gravy and generous amount of salad. I was still not sure exactly what place was that. There we met many friends and friend's friends, all very welcoming. They were students of science, arts, history and political science. Most of them were studying in University of Vienna. There was another thing in common in those students; they all graduated from Imam Hatip schools (a school system in Turkey where they learn Islamic Sciences besides other subjects).

After the sumptuous dinner, they took us to a tour of the 'dormitory' . It turned out to me only then that it was not just a dormitory, but a community center for international students from Turkey. The institute was impressive to say the least... The name of this center was WONDER. A befitting name indeed!

We started the tour of Wonder from the basement floor where they had a nice prayer space (masjid). With ornate carpets and walled tiles of beautiful Islamic art, the masjid was a necessary component of this organization for Muslim students. It was spacious enough to accommodate around 200 people.

Wonder not only provides necessary facilities to students like halal food and accommodation, it also gives them the environment to continuously learn. There are many research groups in the premises of the institute, which cover a wide array of subjects from language to political science and from history to health. We went to the floor where they have offices for these research groups. The offices were all well organized. There were many conference rooms that give decent setting for research groups to hold discussions and even conferences. The language institute also had designated class rooms where they offer courses to learn English, German and Arabic.

The institute is also home to a youth radio station named Radio Tuna. They broadcast online and live from this premises. Their programs are in Turkish and German languages.

In one section of the building there was a library. It has a big collection of books with quiet ambience and comfortable furniture for students to study. The library also gives internet access to students with WiFi and PC terminals. Over there I got hold of a magazine published by Wonder's community. The name of the magazine is Magrib, or The West. Although in Turkish language, I could see that the quality of the magazine was impressive and it covers a range of subjects relevant to Turkish Muslim community living in West. The institute has also its own bulletin simultaneously in Turkish and German.

It was already late in the evening and the tour of the institute was not over. So we deferred the rest of the tour to the next morning. My curiosity and interest were only amplified after visiting this place and I wanted to continue seeing the rest of the facilities in the institute.

The next morning we continued our tour, this time checking out the outer portion of the building. To my amazement, the institute had a huge gymnasium. That morning it was being turned into a convention hall for school's award distribution ceremony. A new coffee and snack bar was under construction just outside the gymnasium. The main building has access to the dormitory and most students use it to conveniently access the facilities the main building houses. In the end of the tour, a friend played a beautiful tune on Turkish flute, Nayy. That was a real treat at the end of our tour.

My visit to Vienna was short, but in that I made many new friendships, saw a beautiful city, and experienced Turkish culture. Organizations like Wonder give a great positive growing environment for the Muslim youth, especially those living in the West. Vienna might be famous for its past, but to me, it will always remind me of the hope of a wonderful future.