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This popped up on my Facebook just now courtesy of Oprah. I’m hoping Mr Darwin is right because embracing change is the only thing I’ve got going for me right now.

I’m feeling slightly better today about trying to get back to Mongolia after half a dozen random acts of kindness from people in Oslo.

I went from Oslo airport yesterday afternoon to my friend Vibeke’s house, who I worked with on the first film I did in Norway. She lives close to the airport and answered my call for help so graciously.

I arrived to a nice cup of tea, some clean clothes and a packet of hayfever tablets she had raced out to buy before I came because she races horses and lives next to a stable.

Her niece , Anne Marie, who is staying with her for the weekend has been equally kind, drawing me pictures saying “welcome” and playing me music on her violin to cheer me up.

I spoke late yesterday with the Danish Consular who I managed to catch on her mobile phone about 6pm. She was appalled by what I had been through. She confirmed that I should be able to get back in because I haven’t broken any laws, aren’t on any terrorist watch lists (that I know of) and technically wasn’t deported because that would have required me being in the country first.

With this good news we started to look for flights for me to Denmark but then she said she couldn’t guarantee me the processing time even if I did try to fast track it.

Sweden, which has the only Mongolian Embassy in Scandinavia, wasn’t answering but the Danish lady did mentioned that she thought a new consular had opened in Norway about 12 months ago.

When I was initially searching for a Mongolian embassy there was a few different numbers and locations that came up online but I tried all the numbers and was told everything closed down three years ago. It appears now as though the embassy did close down three years ago and they had nothing for a while but then a small consular restarted run by just one guy.

I rang him last night with no success but managed to track him down this morning (he was in Greece which is why his phone was off) and he says he can’t see any reason why he can’t give me a visa and if I come to his office first thing tomorrow, he will hook me up. I have to pay double the fee to fast track it but it means I can be back in the air on Tuesday and make the festival in Bayan Olgii! Still a lot of water to go under the bridge of course and I don’t want to book a flight back before I am certain I can get into the country but hopefully it will get sorted.

I also rang about my luggage this morning and it seems as though they have tracked it down in Moscow! The Lost Luggage guys were so nice yesterday as I stood there crying. They assured me they would do everything they could to find my bag. I wasn’t hopeful because I haven’t seen it since I left Oslo and I didn’t get a new baggage claim tag as they forced me onto the plane so I have no way of tracing it if it did in fact get back on the plane from Mongolia. Yesterday they said the ticket from my first journey wasn’t even registering because one of the number was missing – it’s rubbed off or something – but the guy, Frank, said a bag matching the description of mine is in Moscow marked to go to Mongolia so he has re-routed it and I should have it tomorrow – fingers crossed.

So we wait. In the meantime I’m lamenting another missed opportunity – the Oslo Marathon – which is on today. I would like nothing more than to go run a 10km or the half marathon just to get rid of some of this stress but of course I have no sneakers to do it and the shops aren’t open in Norway on Sundays.