A Slightly Complicated Question

Tonight as I was having dinner with my grandmother, she asked me, "Is America an attractive country?"

She caught me slightly unprepared for that question. My first reaction was to say "No." I don't think of the US as an attractive country--yes, there are definitely interesting things to see; the landscape is phenomenal in some parts; and some of the cities are pretty unique (like New York or Chicago, for example). However, I don't know why the word "attractive", in my mind, doesn't quite accurately describe what the US is like. Which led me to another question. What is the US like? How do I describe it to someone who has never been there? A country in which everything is of massive proportions, distances are large, and people very materialistic and individualistic (as well as workaholics), where society at large is pretty conservative, yet claims not to be? That applies, but those descriptions definitely don't do it justice. Make it seem like I don't have a very high opinion of the place where I spent the past 9 years. So, here briefly are a few of the positive things I have found about the US:
1. People are friendly, and although in most cases that is superficial, it still makes your day a whole lot more pleasant than when you are being frowned upon the whole time.
2. You can achieve almost anything you set your mind to. Many people will claim "the land of opportunities" is merely a cliche. I couldn't disagree more.
3. People are open to new ideas and aren't afraid of being different (and of not following the path recommended by society at large)--i.e., traveling the world for a year, joining the Peace Corps, volunteering, etc.

To end this story, I will also tell you something (slightly unrelated) that touched me. My grandmother then told me how when she was young and still living with her parents in their village, "Gone with the Wind" (the book) had become a big hit, and she had asked my grandfather (who was still courting her at that time) to buy it for her from "the city". She read it all in "one breath", as she put it. I don't know what exactly touched me about this story. The fact that she had the opportunity to experience something clearly "American" decades before I made it to the US to study? Or perhaps the fact that this book in particular transcends borders and time to touch the hearts of thousands of people? Or maybe it was the fact that her image of America stems from that book...and she will always view it as "attractive."