Data Firmware

So heres the screen-shot he took from the EPIK website:

It looks like the image gets recycled for the Korean Education Center in San Francisco:

And here it is extracted from the page:

Looks like a lovely and pleasantly voluptuous teacher is eagerly engaged with those happy little Korean boys, respectfully keeping their eyes on their work. 

But I noticed something weird right off the bat. Check out her pair of... uh... sorry, got distracted for a second... her pair of eyes. Where is she looking? To me, if you follow her line if sight, its not on any of the boys or any work they must be doing. Weird that shes staring somewhere at a distance, like either shes dead inside (likely, if shes doing middle school), or else shes actually looking at something else. And that got me thinking... if this was shopped, might there be any chance that an original is out there somewhere? 

Ask (Google), and ye shall receive.

I stumbled across this stock photo image from some edu-management site. 

In fact, you can find the same stock photo not only there, but also here and here, and advertising for Koreans to study in Australia here and here, as well as buy it from Dreamtime or buy it from Shutterstock where its titled "Portrait of diligent schoolkids and their teacher talking at lesson". Well at least now we know what shes looking at. Its whatever this blue-shirted pigtailed girl is doing. Now that makes more sense. 

It also means that EPIK (or someone they hired?) got hold of a stock photo of "busty white teacher" and shopped her out of that one, and stuck her next to some cute Korean boys. Classy. So the girl in the EPIK photos probably was not an actual English teacher in Korea. 

Not that any of this really matters, if you want my opinion. Im just making a big deal out of it because Ive had insomnia lately and Sherlocking this was a fun distraction. It is a little bit funny that they shopped her out of a white school with mixed gender students and stuck her right with three Korean boys. Yes boys, study hard (not in that way... well maybe in that way) and someday you too can ride a busty Baek-ma. 

And if you want even more of her, theres a full-HD, crystal-clear 5000x3000 pixel version here.

Oh, Internet. Youre always good for a mid-week chuckle.

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UPDATE: I did a little more amateur sleuthing, and also found the original of the three chipper Korean boys. You guessed it: it was originally a white guy.

Image: GoOverseas.com

You can also see the same photo prominently featured in a TaLK (Teach and Learn in Korea) newsletter from back in 2013:

Image: screenshot from talk.go.kr

Not only that, but I get the impression that this guy is an actual TaLK program teacher, based on what appears to be his appearance in several other promotional images on the official TaLK site. This is him, right?

Image: TaLK

Image: TaLK

Im surprised they even bothered to photoshop him out and put a juicy girl (not that kind) instead. Hes definitely got a clean, friendly, approachable, teacherly look to him. Not at all the angry pot-smoking pedo that graces the papers now and then.

Alright, I think Ive pretty much beaten this to death. But if anybody recognizes the guy in the photos (or the woman for that matter, but if shes a stock model, good luck), Id love to add that bit of info to the post. 

Now back to my pipe and violin.