It's ok, I guess. It's hard to say as someone born and raised here. For my parents, it is probably a big deal and opened a lot of opportunities for them that in turn gave me a better life.
I don't really have a good reference for other countries. I've had extended stays in Paris, various places in Italy, various places in Germany, and those were all great (oddly, I liked Germany the most). My one time to Canada was a disaster. It took two hours to order some chicken tenders. I kept telling these people, in the lord's tongue, that I wanted Le Chicken Tenders, and it was Le number 2 on the menu. To say I was cultured shocked by a country where they'd let people starve is an understatement, and I've been to Africa. The only good thing about my trip to Canada was that I left with a copy of Heavy Gear II on PC.